Worldwide Sports News

One walk-off was something. Two consecutive walk-off moonshots is something else entirely.

Gavin Sheets was the hero of last night’s game after belting a three-run dinger about as deep as the Friar Faithful have seen a ball go in Petco Park. The crazy part: it wasn’t even his first homer of the game.

Luis Campusano provided another solo shot to give the San Diego Padres a two-run lead. That lead was preserved by a sterling outing from starter Walker Buehler until Adrian Morejon gave up two runs to the Colorado Rockies in the eighth inning, setting the stage for the dramatic finale.

The Friars are now on their second three-game win streak of the season, and will push for four tonight (as well as the series win over Colorado).

Taking the mound

Ryan Feltner (COL) v. Germán Márquez (SD)

The Rockies No. 5 starter has been off to a semi-decent start, with a 4.32 ERA across 8 1/3 innings. He’s spent his entire career in Colorado, never finishing with an ERA under 4.00.

Feltner is working back from an injury-plagued 2025, having only pitched in six games last year. After a solid, albeit short, first start to the year, he gave up four runs against the Houston Astros on Monday.

The Padres who have batted against him have raked, with a combined .348/.423/.391 slash line. If Feltner can’t fix that now, San Diego will crush him.

Márquez will face his longtime former club for the first time since signing with the Friars this offseason. He had a rough debut with San Diego that now feels like a blip after he pitched five shutout innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.

If Márquez can follow that up against the Rox, it’ll go a long way to soothing rotation worries in San Diego.

Batter up!

The San Diego offense continues to be all-around spectacular, with contributions from Campusano and Sheets leading the way last night. Facing the right-hander Feltner will likely see the Friars use a similar lineup to yesterday, with some minor tweaks:

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. Freddy Fermin, C
9. Jake Cronenworth, 2B

Even with Campusano’s great offensive production lately, Fermin has been the primary starter and they’ve mostly swapped back and forth in the backstop role.

Castellanos was benched yesterday in favor of the hot-hitting Miguel Andujar but will likely give Sheets a rest in the cold corner. That being said, Sheets’ bat is far too good to stay out of the lineup so he’ll probably get a DH day.

San Diego’s production at the plate has been wonderful lately. If they can keep that rolling against the Rockies’ No. 5 man tonight, they’ll cruise to a series victory.

Relief corps

Buehler had a fantastic outing, and boy did he need it. With his job on the line after allowing more runs (7) than he innings pitched (6 2/3), he needed a vintage outing. He delivered with a scoreless six innings, limiting Rockies batters to three hits.

That kept a (relatively) depleted bullpen mostly fresh, with manager Craig Stammen opting to use Kyle Hart in the seventh inning. Morejon came out for the eighth and blew the lead, giving up two runs on four hits.

That’s largely been the story for Morejon for the beginning of this year, with him struggling to a 10.80 ERA, giving up nine runs (eight earned) in only 6 2/3 innings. He’s yet to prove himself to be the dominant reliever he was from 2024-25 (2.42 ERA, 137.1 IP).

With Morejon unable to get out of the inning, Stammen turned to Jason Adam as the right-hander made his 2026 debut. He was easily able to get the out and stop the bleeding. The stranger thing was him not returning to the mound for the ninth.

Instead Stammen went to closer Mason Miller, who’s now pitched three games straight. It was odd given that it was not a save situation, and Adam had only thrown five pitches. Whatever the case, it ended up working out for San Diego, but Miller will likely be unavailable for tonight’s game.

In his stead the Friars will have Ron Marinaccio, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez. The quartet will hope for a clean outing from Márquez, but all four are capable of covering more than one inning if necessary.

Firstly, congratulations are in order for Michael Harris II and his wife, Esther. ICYMI, Michael was placed on the paternity list earlier today and we hope to hear happy news about baby boy Harris soon. MHIII? We shall see! More on the corresponding roster moves here, including a return for Luke Williams.

As a result, Mauricio Dubón will patrol center field and Jorge Mateo gets the start at short and will bat ninth. 

The rest of the lineup looks a lot like the last time the Braves faced a lefty, including Mike Yastrzemski in the seven hole, Drake Baldwin DH’ing, and Jonah Heim at catcher. 

Braves menace Steven Kwan continues to lead off for the Guardians, but the one to watch here will be José Ramírez. Recently making headlines for setting the club record for most games played (1,620!), Ramírez has the most ABs versus Martín Pérez and has a .263 average and .754 OPS against him. Not only that, MLB’s game preview and Elias note that if he homers, he will be the first Cleveland player with home runs versus all other 29 MLB teams. The drama of trying to deny one of baseball’s stars an additional accolade… here’s hoping the Braves pitching staff will be up to the task today and tomorrow.

Buzzy rookie Chase DeLauter drops from second to fifth and will take a break from playing right field to DH. New faces David Fry and Austin Hedges will bat cleanup and eighth, respectively.

First pitch is set for 7:15 pm ET.

Max Schuemann is the answer to a baseball trivia question: “Who fielded the last out for the Athletics in their final game at the Oakland Coliseum?”

It was September 26, 2024 and the batter was Travis Jankowski of the Texas Rangers.

“I was playing third base, kind of shifted over playing short,” Schuemann said. “The way that at-bat was going, Mason Miller was throwing and there was a lefty at the plate who was kind of slapping it and fouling off a bunch of pitches. I was like, ‘This ball is 1,000-percent coming to me. I need to be ready.’

“Sure enough, he did and I felt like you could hear a pin drop in that stadium, even though the seats were all full. Once I fielded it and as I was going to throw it, it got so quiet. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I can not screw this up.’ But I threw a strike over there and hit [first baseman Tyler Soderstrom] in the chest and we won the game.”

After spending the past two years with the Athletics, Schuemann is in the Yankees organization this year with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. He was designated for assignment by the Athletics on February 6th. Three days later, the Yankees acquired him in a trade for Rookie ball pitcher Luis Burgos.

Schuemann couldn’t be happier.

“I can’t ask for a better situation to come into,” he said. “The coaching staff at big-league camp and then here have been amazing to me and really helpful. I feel like I’ve learned a ton in the small stint that I’ve been here.”

The 28-year-old hails from Kalamazoo, Michigan — the same hometown as Derek Jeter. Schuemann unsurprisingly idolized the Yankees’ Hall of Fame shortstop.

Schuemann was selected by the Athletics out of Eastern Michigan University in the 20th round of the 2018 MLB Draft (593rd overall). Over the next five years, Schuemann worked his way through various stops in the A’s system — Vermont, Beloit, Lansing, Midland, and Las Vegas — before making his MLB debut on April 12, 2024 against the Washington Nationals. He entered the game in the bottom of the 10th inning as the automatic runner and scored the winning run on a single by Lawrence Butler.

In his sixth MLB game at Cleveland’s Progressive Field on April 20, 2024, Schuemann got his first hit off Logan Allen and first stolen base.

“I had my family on the edge of their seats,” Schuemann said. “I thought I absolutely crushed a ball (in my first at-bat) to left field. It was a colder day, maybe the wind was blowing in from left, which was kind of weird for that ballpark; I feel like it’s pretty hitter-friendly. I thought I got it, but I was running hard out of the box because that’s just the player I am. My family all went nuts, they thought I got it, too. Steven Kwan made a leaping catch at the big wall in left to rob me of my first hit.

“My second at-bat, I came up, first-pitch swinging, I hit a ball pretty well to right field. Again, running hard out of the box, I hit it well and it snuck over the fence. So my first career hit was a homer and they (my family) went nuts. I wouldn’t trade that moment for the world. It was pretty cool, teasing my family like that. You can’t draw that up.”

That season, Schuemann appeared in 133 games and batted .220 (87-for-396) with seven home runs, 34 RBI, and 14 stolen bases.

“I was very happy being part of the last team in Oakland,” Schuemann said. “It was such an amazing year for me, especially that last series. The fans really showed out.”

Last season, the Athletics began playing in a minor-league stadium in West Sacramento while a new stadium in Las Vegas is being built. Not only did the team have to adjust to a new city, but Schuemann transitioned into a bench role. He played in 101 games and batted .197 (36 for 183) with two home runs, 13 RBIs and seven stolen bases.

“Making that adjustment was definitely a learning experience,” Schuemann said. “But I feel like I did OK and I learned from it. Sacramento, we made it what it was. I’m not with those guys anymore, but I’m rooting for those guys. They were my teammates and I came up with a lot of them through the minor leagues. Some longtime friends over there for sure.”

With the RailRiders, Schuemann is part of an infield that includes Oswaldo Cabrera, Paul DeJong, Jonathan Ornelas, and Braden Shewmake. All have MLB experience and all can play second base, shortstop, and third base. Schuemann has a leg up on at least DeJong and Ornelas, as he currently holds a spot on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, so if the situation arises where the Yankees need an infielder, it seems likely that either he or Cabrera would get the call.

That versatility is a strength and gives manager Shelley Duncan plenty of options.

“That was a key part of how I got to the big leagues in the first place, bouncing around everywhere and playing multiple positions,” Schuemann said. “If you go around our infield, I feel like we have guys who do that same thing. It’s pretty special to have an athletic team like we have. I feel like it helps hold everyone accountable. Everybody’s bouncing around, it’s not set in stone. It helps us hold each other accountable to stay on top of our craft.”

Through 10 games with the RailRiders, Schuemann is batting .235 (8-for-34) with two doubles, five RBIs, and two stolen bases. He also has drawn nine walks.

“I had a good spring, so I’m trying to carry that over,” Schuemann said. “Everything I’ve learned in camp has been going pretty well overall. I’ve had a lot of quality at-bats, just waiting for the results to come. It’s a long season, so I feel like they will.

“I’ve been very happy with how it (the trade) turned out. I don’t think I could ask to have come into a better situation. Just to evolve as a player, I feel it’s really going to be good for my career.”

After a tight tilt on Friday night that broke a losing streak, the Tigers looked to carry that momentum into a Saturday afternoon contest against the Marlins. Excellent work from both pitchers and a timely tater gave the Tigers a 6-1 victory and secured a series win, as well as AJ Hinch’s 400th victory as Tigers’ manager.

Casey Mize made his third start of the year for the Tigers; his first, against the Diamondbacks, was very good (even though the Tigers eventually lost that game). His second, against the Twins? Not so much… but the less said about that series in Minnesota, the better. He’s striking guys out, though, which is a good sign.

Facing Mize and the Tigers today was Janson Junk; I gotta think that name’s Dutch. After bouncing back and forth between the majors and minors for four years, and with three teams, he finally found a home in the Marlins’ rotation last year. He doesn’t strike out everybody, but his walk and home run rates are exceptionally low, so he generally keeps his team in the game.

The Tigers jumped on Junk in the first: Kevin McGonigle led off with a double to right, and a Wenceel Pérez groundout pushed him up to third. Colt Keith then doubled to left to put the Tigers up 1-0, and after Dillon Dingler grounded out, Riley Greene singled to right to plate Keith for a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Mize gave up a leadoff double to Otto Lopez, who advanced to third on a groundout. But Mize buckled down and got a strikeout and a foulout to Keith at third, and Lopez was stranded ninety feet (27.43 m) from home. The Marlins repeated themselves in the third, sort-of: leadoff single, stolen base, groundout got a runner to third with two outs. Mize then struck out Agustín Ramírez to end the inning, stranding another runner 90 feet (5.45 rods) from home.

In the bottom of the third McGonigle drew a leadoff walk and Dingler reached on catcher’s interference with two out; they advanced to second and third on a wild pitch with Greene at the plate. Greene battled and fouled-off pitch after pitch, and on the tenth pitch of the at-bat he crushed a waist-high fastball for a long home run to right-centre for a 5-0 lead; it was Greene’s first home run of the year.

The Marlins got on the board in the fourth: Liam Hicks singled, Lopez doubled again, and a sacrifice fly scored Hicks for a 5-1 score. But with two outs and Lopez on third, Pauley fouled-out again, stranding Lopez 90 feet (136 links) from home.

In the top of the sixth Lopez reached on an error by McGonigle, and with two outs Connor Norby hit a ground-rule double to right that bounced into the stands, pushing Lopez to third. That was the end of Mize’s day, and Drew Anderson was brought in. Could the Tigers again strand Lopez 90 feet (15 fathoms) from home?

They could, and they did: a groundout to second base and Lopez was indeed left 288 Big Macs from home.

Anderson carried on into the seventh and sprinkled a walk in between three groundouts. But, before I forget, here’s Mize’s final line: 5 2/3 IP, 6 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts. I will take that every lovin’ day of the week.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth Greene drew a walk, stole second base, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a soft fly ball to centre by Spencer Torkelson for a 6-1 score. Something something small-ball something something.

Anderson was doing well, and he’s been a starter for years, so it was decided that he’d just carry on into the ninth. He walked Pauley with one out, but he struck out Heriberto Hernández on a high heater, and after an epic battle with CMU product Jakob Marsee that lasted fourteen pitches, Marsee hit a grounder to first to finally end the game and earn Anderson a 3 1/3-inning save. You gotta tip your cap to Marsee on that one, though.

Final: Tigers 6, Marlins 1

Now, that’s interesting.

Numbers and Such

• I know the Tigers lineup can be frustrating at times. But, for perspective: the average OPS in the American League coming into today’s action was .675, and the Tigers were .673. And it’s frustrating when people strike out, but the league average at this point was 123 whiffs, and the Tigers had 128. So, they’re pretty much the definition of average… which isn’t what we were hoping for, but so far, it’s what we’ve got.
• Pehaps a key idea is the age of Tigers hitters: they’re the third-youngest in the American League, with an average batting age of 27.0 years. (League average is 28.2 years.) Will a little seasoning help them out? Time will tell.
• The Marlins had two players in their starting lineup (Otto Lopez and Owen Caissie) that played for Team Canada in the WBC.
• The BYB folks are tired of me talking about this, but if you haven’t seen this band out of Quebec called Angine de Poitrine… hold onto something stable very tightly and click Play. I hate most new music, but this is so bonkers, even if you don’t like it, you’ve gotta respect it. (FYI: I don’t hate this. I like it. Very much.)
• On this day in 1970, Apollo 13 was launched, and I’m just going to assume that it all went really well for the whole mission. How about that Artemis II, though? Wow! Perfect re-entry, textbook splashdown, all four astronauts are doing great. That’s what ya like to see.

Having traded 2-0 victories (or losses, if you prefer), two of the worst offensive teams in the majors — White Sox 29th in runs per game, Royals 27th — take another stab at trying to figure out where a ball was pitched this afternoon in the third of a four-game series in Kansas City.

The Royals will start four batters hitting .200 or worse. Not to be outdone, the Sox will start six, with the only average better than .242 being Dustin Harris’ .333 — which we would be more impressive if he had more than six at-bats.

Trying to keep Kansas City in the offensive doldrums will be Erick Fedde, who has had a respectable beginning to the season (4.09 ERA and 3.42 FIP over 11 innings in two starts). His mound opponent, Michael Wacha, has been not just respectable but downright amazing, giving up just one run in 13 innings.

Wacha will face a Sox lineup that has the heart of the order, batters two through five, all with averages that begin with a one. To make it more of a challenge for the offense one of the two Sox to have a hit yesterday, Derek Hill, isn’t starting.

Fedde will face a Royals lineup that so far this season consists of Maikel García and Bobby Witt Jr. at the top, Kyle Isbel at the bottom, and a bunch of guys who are struggling in between (well, OK, except for Carter Jensen, who had a homer yesterday).

First pitch is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. Central, with a very un-Kansas City-like 74°, a chance of a shower or thunderstorm, and wind blowing out toward left. Usual broadcast suspects.

We’ll always have those 10 days when Grant Holman was in the Dodgers organization. The well-travelled right-hander was claimed off waivers from Los Angeles by the Detroit Tigers on Saturday, ending Holman’s 10-day stay.

The Dodgers claimed Holman off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 1, and optioned him to the minors. He was technically on the Arizona Complex League Dodgers roster, though there are no games on that level yet, so it’s basically another way of saying he was getting work in at Camelback Ranch. Holman did not pitch in the minors in his week and a half in the organization.

Holman, who turns 26 in May, pitched in 40 games for the Athletics in 2024-25, but is now on his third team since getting designated for assignment by the A’s in February. Arizona claimed the right-hander on February 15, then designated him for assignment 10 days later, before the Dodgers claimed him on April 1. Now, he’s with the Tigers, more specifically their Florida Coast League team in Lakeland.

With this move, the Dodgers have 39 players on the 40-man roster.