BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - APRIL 5: Ranger Suarez #55 of the Boston Red Sox pitches during the first inning of a game against the San Diego Padres on April 5, 2026 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
During Saturday’s win in St. Louis, the Red Sox scored a season high seven runs. So with that established, let me stop and ask you a question: What player in a Boston uniform was most responsible for this offensive outburst?
Perhaps it was Willson Contreras, who went 2-4 with 3 RBI against his former team. Or maybe you’d give the nod to Jarren Duran, who picked up his first multi-hit game since Opening Day and seems to be a spark plug for this offense whenever he gets going. Heck, if you wanted to get cute, you could even say Ceddanne Rafaela, who was on base twice in the final three innings, including a line drive RBI single in the ninth that knocked in the first of the five runs forfeited in the final frame by the Cardinals.
But do you know who I’m going with as an answer to this question? Ranger Suarez. Why? Because the biggest reason the Red Sox lineup woke up and managed six consecutive singles in that ninth inning is because they were facing a reliever whose career might be in crisis if he doesn’t figure things out soon. Matt Svanson, the man on the mound for the meltdown, has now pitched in seven games so far this year, and he’s given up at least three runs in four of those outings. His ERA on the season is up to 15.58.
You know the old adage of how good pitching generally beats good hitting? Well I’d argue the opposite is also true. Bad lineups generally smack around bad pitching.
So from a Red Sox perspective, the biggest hero of the night is the guy most responsible for putting this puddle of pitcher on the mound. And well, the only reason the Red Sox offense got to face this guy is because they were winning a game where the Cardinals had already leaned heavily on their high leverage relievers in recent days. And guess what? They weren’t winning this game because of their offense.
I know that sounds silly given it’s the game where the Sox scored a season high seven runs, but at the end of eight innings, the score was still only 2-1. The entire foundation of this victory is the six scoreless frames tossed by Ranger Suarez, who in some ways made his real Red Sox debut in this outing.
If the Sox’ starter went say the same six innings, but instead allowed two or three men to cross the plate, this lineup doesn’t sniff seven runs! The Cardinals manage it completely differently with a lead. But they didn’t one. They were down because of what Ranger Suarez did, and now they’re thinking “it’s a long season, and we’re going to have to beat Chapman anyway, so let’s just call off the dogs and let it burn. We’ll get ’em tomorrow.”
This is how you get a fool’s gold seven run game.
But here’s the good news for this offense: Tonight’s formula is repeatable! Not down to every detail of course (guys with double digit ERAs tend to be endangered species in the MLB ecosystem), but the general framework is actually the exact blueprint for this squad to win the division. Get a good start from the starter, get a lead, and then get to face the soft underbelly of the opponent’s bullpen.
Even though this lineup isn’t good — and oh boy might it stink! — the Sox probably don’t have to score all that much to have lots of leads in the middle innings. In fact, even though the Sox scored just three runs on Tuesday, five runs on Wednesday, two runs on Friday after an off day Thursday, and two runs in the first eight innings on Saturday, the starter walked off the mound in each of those four games with a lead. If the rotation is really this good, and it might be, that’s a winning formula.
The single best way to improve your offense is to face weaker pitching, and this rotation might actually be good enough to ensure that generally happens in the second half of most games. You’ve got to love baseball!
One last thought here because I think Alex Bregman and Ranger Suarez are forever linked as two possible paths the Red Sox could have taken last winter, and Saturday was a big day on both fronts. Here’s Bregman with a game tying single in the for Cubs in their afternoon game:
These are the types of hits Alex Bregman gets, and these are the hits the Red Sox desperately need right now. But you know what? When you add up everything on Saturday’s scorecard, what Ranger Suarez did for his offense in the ninth inning (getting them in position to face Matt Svanson) was more valuable than what Bregman did for his offense in the ninth inning. (And that’s a pretty impressive bar considering Bregman came through with a clutch, two out, two strike, game tying RBI knock).
This is the calculus we’re going to keep revisiting. That second week of January changed everything when it comes to how these Red Sox are built, and for at least one Saturday night, it was actually for the better. We’ll keep checking back in.
Los Angeles, CA - April 10: Max Muncy #13 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after hitting a walk off home run and his third home run of the night against the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning of a baseball game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday, April 10, 2026. Dodgers won 8-7. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images
The Dodgers have opened up their second homestand on a strong note after a successful road trip where they averaged 8.67 runs per game and took five of six contests. While players such as Andy Pages and Freddie Freeman flourished over the six-game stretch, Max Muncy looked as if to be starting the season on an opposite note.
Muncy had only four hits and two walks across 25 plate appearances away from home and was out of the starting lineup in the series finale against the Washington Nationals, and returned home hitting just .216 with a .623 OPS. In his first game back at home, Muncy lit a spark and had a monstrous three-home run game, the last of which being a walk-off home run to give the Dodgers an 8-7 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday.
The early results so far are indicative of the offseason regiment that Muncy underwent this past offseason, which included losing 17 lbs, and he is feeling much healthier than he was at the end of the World Series, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register.
“Most importantly, I feel like my feet are moving on every ground ball,” Muncy said. “That’s something I’ve always struggled with in the past. I just get stuck a little bit, and that puts me in bad positions on certain hops, but I feel like everything is moving fluidly and I just feel healthy.”
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It took two weeks of regular season play for Shohei Ohtani to hit his first home run in front of the home crowd, and it came via a leadoff shot in Saturday’s win against Texas that also extended his league-leading on-base streak to 45 games.
Courtney Hollman of MLB.com notes that play-by-play announcer Stephen Nelson alluded to Dave Roberts predicting that Ohtani’s first extra-base hit and RBI at home would come on Saturday.
“I know Ohtani doesn’t have an extra-base hit or an RBI yet here at home,” said Roberts (via Nelson on the air). “Kinda crazy. But trust me it’s coming, and I think it’s coming tonight.”
After a rough pair of starts to open the season, Emmet Sheehan managed to toss a quality start and earn the win on Saturday by allowing three earned runs while striking out six and walking one over six innings.
Sheehan was utterly dominant against the majority of Texas’ lineups, with the only mistakes being a pair of home runs from Brandon Nimmo. He noted to Kirsten Watson of SportsNet LA that he’d prefer to have those mistake pitches back, but felt better on the mound compared to his two previous starts.
“There’s some pitches that I wanted to have back there, but delivery-wise, throw-wise, everything felt a lot better. The stuff was playing and I was executing a lot better today, so definitely a step in the right direction.”
Sunday’s full 15-game MLB slate features plenty of strong spots that Polymarket traders may not have fully accounted for.
There are big names on the mound and teams finding their offensive rhythm, while others are still trying to settle in.
Find out more in my MLB picks for Sunday, April 12.
MLB moneyline picks for April 12
Matchup
Pick
Diamondbacks vs Phillies
+117
Giants vs Orioles
-113
Twins vs Blue Jays
-100
Angels vs Reds
+104
Athletics vs Mets
+144
Marlins vs Tigers
+156
Yankees vs Rays
-138
Nationals vs Brewers
+178
White Sox vs Royals
-150
Red Sox vs Cardinals
-100
Pirates vs Cubs
+113
Rockies vs Padres
-178
Rangers vs Dodgers
+122
Astros vs Mariners
+138
Guardians vs Braves
-150
Prices courtesy of Polymarket as of 4-12.
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Expert MLB moneyline picks for April 12
Diamondbacks vs Phillies: Diamondbacks (+117)
Diamondbacks win probability: 46%
This is one of the clearest mismatches on the board when you look at the mound.
Zac Gallen gives Arizona a real edge, and the Diamondbacks have been more consistent than the Phillies.
Giants vs Orioles: Orioles (-113)
Orioles win probability: 53%
San Francisco has actually held up well on the road so far, but Baltimore has been slightly more consistent and gets the benefit of being at home, which matters in a matchup that feels this even.
With no major edge on the mound, I’ll side with the Orioles bats.
Twins vs Blue Jays: Twins (-100)
Twins win probability: 50%
Taj Bradley has been sharp, while Max Scherzer is prone to the long ball.
Minnesota has been steadier, and this pitching matchup favors them right now. In a near pick’em, backing the pitcher in better form is the right move.
Angels vs Reds: Angels (+104)
Angels win probability: 49%
José Soriano has been lights out, while Cincinnati’s offense has been inconsistent.
This should be a close one, but Los Angeles and Soriano have the edge over Andrew Abbott.
Athletics vs Mets: Athletics (+144)
Athletics win probability: 41%
The Athletics can hit, and that matters in this matchup.
With Freddy Peralta on the mound, the A’s have enough offense to create problems, especially against a Mets lineup that has been inconsistent.
Marlins vs Tigers: Marlins (+156)
Marlins win probability: 39%
This line leans heavily on Tarik Skubal’s abilities, but Sandy Alcantara has been dealing thus far.
Miami has been competitive all season, and Detroit can't seem to cross the dish. Take the better bats in this one.
Yankees vs Rays: Yankees (-138)
Yankees win probability: 58%
The Yankees have the deeper lineup and more ways to win this game.
Tampa Bay is always formidable at home, but New York’s offense gives them an edge over nine innings. In a matchup like this, the more complete team usually finds a way.
Nationals vs Brewers: Nationals (+178)
Nationals win probability: 36%
Washington can hit, and the numbers back it up. The Nationals have been more productive offensively than Milwaukee, making this price too high.
The Brewers’ 23% strikeout rate limits their lineup, while the Nationals have more than enough offense to prevail.
White Sox vs Royals: Royals (-150)
Royals win probability: 60%
Kansas City has been the better team and now faces a Chicago side without a confirmed starter.
The White Sox haven’t traveled well, and those struggles should continue against Bobby Witt Jr. and the Royals.
Red Sox vs Cardinals: Cardinals (-100)
Cardinals win probability: 50%
St. Louis has been playing some of the best baseball in the league, while Boston’s bats rank 23rd in wRC+.
That lack of production has shown up on the road, and those woes will likely continue this afternoon.
Pirates vs Cubs: Pirates (+113)
Pirates win probability: 47%
Pittsburgh has been one of the better early-season teams, and that can continue here with Jameson Taillon carrying a 5.11 xFIP.
The Pirates’ offense ranks in the top 15 in wRC+, giving them the edge in what’s essentially a coin flip game.
Rockies vs Padres: Padres (-178)
Padres win probability: 64%
Kyle Freeland has been good, but this San Diego lineup owns a .785 OPS across 194 career at-bats against the veteran lefty.
The Padres’ offense is heating up and can be trusted to carry this matchup.
Rangers vs Dodgers: Rangers (+122)
Rangers win probability: 45%
Jacob deGrom gives Texas a chance against anyone, and that includes a strong Dodgers team.
Los Angeles is raking, but Roki Sasaki is off to an ugly start, and his 4.37 xFIP suggests his woes could continue today.
Astros vs Mariners: Astros (+138)
Astros win probability: 42%
Seattle starter Logan Gilbert is off to a shaky start and looks overpriced, especially after allowing a .705 OPS across 164 at-bats against this Astros lineup.
Houston is likely going with a bullpen game, and its arms can carry this matchup.
Guardians vs Braves: Braves (-150)
Braves win probability: 60%
Chris Sale gives Atlanta the edge on the mound, while Tanner Bibee’s 56% hard-hit rate is a concern.
The Braves’ bats have been more consistent, and that will carry them at home.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
It's midseason in high school baseball, so let's look at players who are producing results at a high level. Forget about rankings, radar guns or who has scholarship offers. These are the players making an impact.
No one has been better than sophomore pitcher Tyler George of Santa Margarita. With a 7-0 record, 0.85 ERA and just two walks in 41 1/3 innings, the 6-foot-5, 190-pound 16-year-old has shown what a top pitcher is supposed to look like.
Few saw this coming — except for his freshman coach last season, Mike Hiserman, who said, "He was the most fundamentally sound all-around freshman baseball player I've ever coached. Was good at everything yet still immensely coachable. You tell him something once and he does it."
George said he has focused on mixing up his pitches — fastball, curveball, slider, change-up.
"Just not overthrowing the ball, not throwing as hard as I can but hitting the spots and having a feel for my off-speed pitches," he said.
He threw all nine innings during a 1-0 win over Mater Dei that was full of drama.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "The adrenaline was running. It was cool."
His brother, Hayden, is a freshman pitcher at UCLA, and he said Bruins coach John Savage has been asking Hayden about him, which is a good sign when he becomes available to talk to recruiters in the summer.
Royal pitcher Dustin Dunwoody is 7-0 with an 0.18 ERA. (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)
Dustin Dunwoody, Royal: Armed with an overpowering fastball, Dunwoody is 7-0, has an 0.18 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings.
Brady Murrietta, Orange Lutheran: The senior catcher keeps throwing out baserunners trying to challenge him. He's also terrific on throws to the plate, picking up the hop and making the tag. And don't forget his clutch hitting. He leads the team in RBIs with 12.
Troy Randall, Corona Santiago: The junior third baseman is hitting .460 with 29 hits and also has given up just two hits in 12 innings in a relief pitching role.
Jake Kim, Harvard-Westlake: The junior has displayed power and consistency, making him one of the toughest outs in the Wolverines' lineup. He has 22 hits, a .500 batting average and four home runs.
Malakye Matsumoto, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame: With 22 hits and 17 RBIs, the senior third baseman has been delivering for 14-3 Notre Dame.
Tate Belfanti, Cypress: The junior left-hander has 53 strikeouts in 28 innings while going 5-0.
Jake Ange, Thousand Oaks: The junior was a starter for the basketball team and has come out and hit seven home runs, including a game in which he hit two grand slams.
Dylan Seward, Norco: The junior shortstop has been producing since he was a starter as a freshman. He has 26 hits, 16 RBIs and makes the plays when the ball is hit in his direction.
James Tronstein, Harvard-Westlake: The senior shortstop has 26 hits, including four home runs, as the Wolverines' leadoff hitter.
Gary Morse, Orange Lutheran: The 6-foot-8 pitcher is 3-1 with a 1.40 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 30 innings for the No. 1 team in Southern California.
Caleb Trugman, Ayala: The two-way player has 23 hits and is 6-0 pitchers and an 0.76 ERA.
Xavier Cadena, El Dorado: The outfielder has hit five home runs, driven in 19 runs and is batting .373.
Carson Sheffer, Oaks Christian: The senior catcher continues to be stellar behind the plate while also contributing 22 hits, including seven doubles.
Landon Hovermale, Norco: A model of consistency, the left-handed Hovermale is 6-0 with an 0.95 ERA and has walked just four batters in 36 2/3 innings.
Jackson Sellz, El Camino Real: The junior keeps throwing complete games for the defending City Section champs. He's 6-0 with a 1.20 ERA and five complete games.
Jayden Rojas, Bell: The senior third baseman is batting .466 with 27 hits for 17-2 Bell. As a pitcher, he's 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - APRIL 08: Rafael Devers #16 of the San Francisco Giants hits a three run home run in the sixth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 8, 2026 at Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA. (Photo by Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
The San Francisco Giants are wrapping up another week of baseball today, which means it’s time to discuss our favorite highlights of the week!
This week, I’m giving the honors to Rafael Devers’ three-run home run in Wednesday’s 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Philies!
Devers faced off against Phillies starter Aaron Nola in the bottom of the sixth innings with Willy Adames on second after a double, and Luis Arráez on first after a walk. Devers came up with a big swing to deep centerfield to knock in three of his four RBI of the night.
I don’t have a video of just that play, but here’s the game highlights from the team’s YouTube account. Enjoy!
What time do the Giants play today?
The Giants wrap up their series against the Baltimore Orioles this morning at 10:35 a.m. PT.
Apr 11, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Colorado Rockies second baseman Edouard Julien (6) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the third inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | David Frerker-Imagn Images
When the Colorado Rockies left Coors Field on Wednesday night they were on top of the world. They had started the week having avoided a sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday and proceeded to rattle off three more wins to sweep the usually dominant Houston Astros. It was the Rockies’ first sweep at home since 2024 and with a record of 6-6, it was the latest the Rockies had been at .500 in a season since 2022.
Making things better, it seemed the offense had finally clicked. The Rockies scored a total of 27 runs—one more than they had scored over their first eight games of the season—with a mix of home runs, competent small ball, and aggressive base-running. Combined with shockingly competent pitching from both the rotation and the bullpen, suddenly it felt like the Rockies could do anything.
To make things even more exciting, the Rockies then announced this week that the Denver Broncos majority owners—the Penner Sports Group—had purchased a 40% minority state in the Rockies organization.
The week ended on a sour note as the Rockies proceeded to lose three straight to the San Diego Padres, including back-to-back games via walk-off multi-run home runs. On Saturday, the Rockies lost with old friend Germán Márquez on the mound despite hitting multiple home runs after what has been a rare dud from the pitching staff. Now the Rockies are a loss away from a sweep heading into this afternoon.
With that being said, here’s what our staff here at Purple Row had to say this week:
The Rockies have experienced highs and lows over the first few weeks of the 2026 campaign. What are your thoughts on the season so far? Would you make any changes to the roster? And what are your thoughts on the seismic news of the Rockies bringing in new minority owners Greg and Carrie Penner on board? Let us know in the comments!
Feb 18, 2026; Sarasota, FL, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Levi Wells (93) poses for media day. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images
It was a very good night for Levi Wells, who retired the first 13 batters he faced. The 14th batter reached on an error by the rehabbing second baseman, Jackson Holliday. The 15th batter doubled, putting runners on second and third with one out in the fifth. After a strikeout, Levi allowed his second hit of the game, a single to score both runs. He exited with one out in the sixth inning with the final pitching line of 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. He threw 86 pitches, 64 for strikes.
All three Norfolk runs came via home run. Westin Wilson hit a two-run homer in the second inning and Creed Willems had a solo shot in the seventh. Wilson’s homer came when he pinch-hit for Sam Huff, who was pulled out of the game with the news that Adley Rutschman was headed to the IL. Huff is a catcher but was slated to DH last night.
Enrique Bradfield, Jr. went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Holliday singled and was hit by a pitch. Willems had a single to go with his homer.
This game remained scoreless until the fifth inning, when Ethan Anderson hit a home run with Frederick Bencosme (walk) and Aron Estrada (double) on base. In the seventh inning, Bencosme had a home run of his own. Anderson, Estrada, and Bencosme all had multi-hit games.
It was a bullpen game in Bowie, and a good one. Christian Herberholz started and struck out five batters in three shutout innings. He was followed by Yaqui Rivera (3 IP), Micah Ashman (2 IP), and Tyson Neighbors (1 IP). The only run scored in the seventh inning and was unearned after a batter reached on catcher’s interference.
High-A: Frederick Keys 11, Winston-Salem Dash (CWS) 2
It was a fun night to be a Key! Ike Irish, Colin Tuft, Wehiwa Aloy, and Vance Honeycutt all hit their first home runs of the season. The Keys got on the board in the first inning with the Irish blast, and ended up scoring in six out of nine innings. Four of those were multi-run innings.
In addition to his homer, Honeycutt walked twice and had 4 RBI as the leadoff batter. Aloy had two hits. Tuft had three. Every hitter in the lineup had at least one hit, and eight of them reached base at least twice.
Not to be outdone by the offense was starting pitcher JT Quinn. In 4.2 shutout innings, Quinn allowed just two hits without a walk. He struck out 10 batters, seven of which were swinging.
Low-A: Delmarva Shorebirds 7, Augusta GreenJackets (ATL) 4
The Shorebirds got the win, but Esteban Mejia did not have a good night. In just two-thirds of an inning, Mejia allowed four runs, walked one, and threw three wild pitches. He exited having allowed three runs with 34 pitches. It was a terrible showing by the prospect. Hopefully there are no injury concerns.
The bullpen picked up the slack with 8.1 innings with just one run allowed. Hunter Allen picked up the win with three innings pitched. He allowed just one run but walked four.
All three runs allowed by Mejia in the top of the first inning were canceled out by a three-run bottom of the first by the Shorebirds. After two walks and a single, DJ Layton cleared the bases with a triple. Delmarva pulled away with four runs scored between innings four through six. Layton had a two-hit game and Cobb Hightower picked up three singles.
Edward Cabrera opposed Braxton Ashcraft. Both threw well enough, Ashcraft getting the upper hand this time around, with help from O’Neil Cruz, who had a Game. Two of the Cubs’ runs came in on groundouts, by Nico Hoerner and Dansby Swanson. The third was driven in by Alex Bregman, with two out in the bottom of the ninth. The game went to extras.
Alas, the Cubs fell, and they’ll have to salvage one game today, and turn over a new loaf for the next mini-series, Monday against the Phillies.
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Cubs Jaxson Wiggins is dealing with a sore arm. Jed Hoyer confirmed he is being backed up for now.
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The majority of the New York Yankees’ wins early in the 2026 season have come due to their outstanding pitching. Yes, the offense has had its fine moments, including averaging well over seven runs a game in a series win over the Marlins to kick off April, but for the most part, it’s been an underwhelming start. Now, it’s easy to talk about the short sample size that 15 games represent — you could claim that for such a short span of time, nearly any team is able to look like one of the best or the worst offenses in the sport, regardless of how great it actually is. While all of that is true, there are reasons behind perhaps an extra layer of concern in the back of most Yankee fans’ minds since not all struggles come in the same manner.
Remember when Aaron Judge forgot how to hit for the start of the 2024 season, wrapping up April with a .207 batting average in 31 games? Well, despite the end of that horrific run raising plenty of people’s anxiety levels hoping for him to break through, no one was actually concerned about Judge. He was still Judge. What makes the early struggles of 2026 so worrisome is that, for the most part, we’re witnessing reasonable concerns ahead of the season coming to fruition. Let’s run through some of these problems:
For starters, even with the two runs batted in from José Caballero in Saturday’s 5-4 loss against the Rays, the left side of the infield has been the closest thing to automatic outs that you may find up at the plate. Caballero and Ryan McMahon have gone 9-for-76 with exactly one extra-base hit. Sure, no hitter will continue to put up numbers even remotely similar to this, but it’s also true that the expectation level was quite low for these two positions to begin with. If we go back to the start of 2024, McMahon has a .698 OPS, and that’s having spent the bulk of that period in Coors Field. In an ideal universe, particularly for a contender, Caballero fills the role of a versatile piece off the bench capable of impacting games on the basepaths with his running ability. Being thrust into a starting spot due to Anthony Volpe’s injury might be too much to handle. And that doesn’t even dive into what to expect from Volpe, somewhat of a polarizing figure in his time as a Yankee.
Moving forward, other concerns include Trent Grisham’s inability to do anything other than pile up a few walks, as evidenced by his performance against the Rays on Saturday, when he went 0-for-3 with a pair of free passes. In year seven of his career last season, Grisham delivered a completely new level of production, at least over a full season. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume a significant amount of folks are simply expecting him to revert back to his 2024 self. In actuality, Grisham did show a sustainable path to produce at a solid level, but the longer the wait for him to deliver in 2026, the louder those questions will be.
There is also Jazz Chisholm Jr., a player notorious for inconsistencies throughout his career, whose plate discipline numbers early in 2026 have not matched what we have seen from him since becoming a Yankee —striking out over 30 percent of the time and refusing to walk. However early it is in the 2026 season, it’s quite difficult to completely disregard these shortcomings when they come in such familiar ways.
Apr 9, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) on the field before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Meet the Mets
Folks, the vibes: they are bad. The Mets dropped their fourth straight game yesterday after Kodai Senga got knocked around by the Athletics to the tune of seven runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Athletics. To be fair, the bats did subsequently show the most life they’ve shown in quite some time, as home runs from Bo Bichette, Francisco Alvarez, and Jorge Polanco made it a 7-6 ballgame heading into the 8th inning. But Luke Weaver then got beaten up for the second straight outing, surrendering four runs—including a three-run homer from Tyler Soderstrom, his second bomb of the day—to send the Mets right back into the abyss. The final score was 11-6, and now they will simply try to stave off a series sweep.
Devin Williams and Luke Weaver may be suiting up for a team doesn’t have a lot working for them right now, but they do have one thing on their side: the power of friendship.
Around the National League East
The Phillies fell behind early, but home runs from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper propelled them to a 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks.
Starting pitcher Janson Junk surrendered five runs in the first three innings against the Tigers, and the Marlins never got much offense going and subsequently fell 6-1.
The Braves bats were shutout by the Guardians pitching staff in a 5-0 loss.
Nationals starter Foster Griffin didn’t allow a hit against the Brewers until the sixth inning yesterday, and Washington defeated Milwaukee 3-1.
️ Rory McIlroy became just the fourth player in history to win consecutive Green Jackets ️ Official Leader Board
Marco Penge was making a good fist of his Masters debut. Especially as the 27-year-old from Crawley, the reigning Spanish Open champion, took a triple-bogey eight at the 2nd on Thursday. Not the most auspicious start to his Augusta National career, but he limited the first-round damage to 76, then shot 69 and 71. Sadly his final round isn’t going so well, and he’s just dumped two balls in the water at the iconic par-three 12th, the first spinning back off the bank, the second from the dropzone not even getting over to dry land before dunking into the drink. A quadruple-bogey seven. He isn’t the first, he won’t be the last, and things could have gotten a whole lot worse, just ask the Towering Inferno …
Bogey at the last for Jon Rahm. A diminuendo end to a fine round of 68. You have to wonder how much buyer’s remorse Rahmbo has for joining the LIV tour: the 2021 US Open champion and 2023 Masters winner has never been the same player since. Still, his recovery this week from an opening round of 78 will give him a little succour. He ends his week at +1, one shy of the current clubhouse leader Gary Woodland.
The Toronto Maple Leafs fell to the Florida Panthers 6-2 in a game that will be remembered by absolutely nobody, except perhaps for the players who made their NHL debut, such as Leafs defenseman William Villeneuve. With both teams firmly out of the playoffs, there was little to play for; the race for a better draft pick was the only thing on the minds of fans from both sides.
Crucial to Maple Leafs fans is finishing with a top-five draft pick. That is the only way the team can retain its selection at the 2026 NHL Draft, due to a trade that sent a conditional first-round pick and forward Fraser Minten to the Boston Bruins in exchange for veteran defenseman Brandon Carlo.
Thanks to this loss and the Seattle Kraken’s 4-1 defeat by the Calgary Flames, Toronto moved into the fifth-worst spot in the NHL. This puts them right on the “bubble” of where they need to be to retain the pick. The term “bubble” is appropriate because the NHL holds a lottery for the top two selections, meaning one or two teams could potentially bump the Leafs from No. 5 to either No. 6 or No. 7. Should that happen, the selection would revert to Boston.
Moving to the fifth spot tremendously improves Toronto’s chances of keeping their 2026 pick. When they entered the night with the sixth-worst record in the league, Toronto had only a 15.4 percent chance of finishing with a top-five pick following the NHL Draft lottery. By moving into the No. 5 spot on Saturday, that chance improved to 41.9 percent.
While there is still a better chance than not that they fall to either No. 6 or No. 7 given how lottery odds are distributed, this is a much better situation for the franchise. There remains a very slim chance Toronto could finish with the third-worst record in the NHL, which would fully guarantee they keep the pick.
NHL Standings courtesy of NHL.com
Reaching that spot would require some help. The New York Rangers are three points behind Toronto, with both teams having two games remaining. The Calgary Flames are five points back from the Leafs but have three games remaining. If the Flames earn five more points than Toronto in their final three games compared to Toronto’s final two, they could conceivably pass the Leafs. In that scenario, the Flames would hold the first tiebreaker (regulation wins).
If you are a Leafs fan wanting the team to keep its pick, you should be cheering for the Flames to defeat the Utah Mammoth on Sunday evening.
The Philadelphia Flyers are leaving Winnipeg with a sweet 7-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets, and some guys are going to be able to enjoy the victory on a personal level, too.
With an assist on a shorthanded goal by Noah Cates, veteran Flyers forward Christian Dvorak, who has proven to be an excellent fit as a free agent signing back on July 1, has reached 300 career points.
Dvorak, 30, is already in the midst of a career year that's seen him rip off 51 points, and he only needs one more goal to set a new career-high there as well.
In his 10-year NHL career, the former second-round pick has 146 points in 302 games with the Arizona Coyotes, 103 points in 232 games with the Montreal Canadiens, and now 51 points in 79 games with the Flyers.
Cates, Dvorak's partner in crime, deserves a shoutout as well.
The 27-year-old expanded on his own career year with a three-point effort against the Jets and is now up to a rather impressive 18 goals and 46 points in 80 games this season, which far exceed expectations for the two-way maven.
At this point in the season, Flyers GM Danny Briere's offseason moves are looking more and more shrewd by the day.
Dvorak, alongside Dan Vladar and Trevor Zegras, have almost single-handedly led the Flyers' turnaround and subsequent charge to a playoff spot this year.
Head coach Rick Tocchet felt Dvorak had more offense to give heading into the season, and was he ever right about that one.
After an intense battle with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Bell Centre on Saturday, and the visitors were desperate for a win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
For a third game in a row, veteran Brendan Gallagher was watching the game from the press gallery, joined by sophomore Zach Bolduc for a second game in a row. As for Kaiden Guhle, he remained out of the lineup, meaning that Adam Engstrom, Arber Xhekaj, and Jayden Struble were all still in the lineup.
With their playoff lives on the line, the Blue Jackets came out strong and stormed the Canadiens’ zone early on. Less than two minutes in, they were up by one and had four shots on net. Five and a half minutes later, they were up by two and just looked like they wanted it more.
While one might think well, that’s normal since they haven’t booked their playoff spot, it’s a bit worrying. At this stage of the season, teams should be playing playoff-like hockey every day. Montreal did a good job of it against Tampa Bay, but on Saturday night, they looked like they weren’t ready.
A week from now, when the puck drops on the playoffs, every game is going to be a must-win game, and every team will be fighting for its life. Montreal needs to be ready for that right out of the gate, and those last three games against teams fighting for a playoff spot are a perfect rehearsal that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Missing Guhle
With Guhle missing a third game in a row, the fact that the Canadiens are missing him dearly had never been so obvious. Struble had many hard shifts and committed four giveaways through 40 minutes. One of them was particularly costly when he got rid of the puck in a hurry in the defensive zone, even though he was under no pressure to do so whatsoever. Still, he coughed it up to Kent Johnson, who fed it to Sean Monahan, who scored Columbus’ fourth goal in a flash, which was a gut punch for the Canadiens.
To make matters worse, Noah Dobson also left the game after blocking a shot with the inside of his hands, where there isn’t much padding… The Canadiens will hope that it’s not a serious injury with the playoffs right around the corner. Being without him to start the spring dance will be disastrous for the Habs, he plays a lot of minutes and a significant role for the team.
On The Bright Side Of Things…
Cole Caufield scored his 51st goal of the season from an almost impossible angle and, unsurprisingly, Nick Suzuki got an assist on the play, giving him his 99th point of the season. With two games left to play, the captain will have every opportunity to reach the historic milestone and become just the sixth player in Canadiens history to achieve the feat.
There was a worrying moment in the third frame when Zach Werenski checked him by the boards with the puck nowhere near him. The blueliner got a two-minute interference penalty, but the Russian rookie, who crashed into the boards face-first, had to leave the game momentarily. Thankfully, he was able to come back and looked no worse for wear, taking a couple of hard shots in the last few minutes. Still, the Jackets got a 5-2 win, and it was the first time since March 3 that Jakub Dobes allowed five goals or more.
The Canadiens will now take on the New York Islanders on Sunday at 6:00 PM and the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday at 7:00 PM. Both teams are in a race to the finish, battling for the last playoff spot in the East with the Jackets. Meanwhile, the Canadiens find themselves in third place in the Atlantic Division since the Lightning beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 to get to 104 points and have more regulation wins than the Habs.
It shows Rogie Vachon, left hand tucked into a pocket of his bell-bottom jeans and a cigar wedged between two fingers of his right hand, which rests on the hood of a new Mercedes in an empty parking lot outside the Forum. His open V-neck shirt has huge lapels, his hair hangs down to his shoulders and a bushy mustache creases his smiling face, leaving Vachon looking more like the bassist for Spinal Tap than an NHL goaltender.
And that was the point.
Hockey was a bruising, inelegant sport played in the frozen tundra of Canada and the upper Midwest when Vachon was traded from the Montreal Canadiens to the Kings in the winter of 1971. The NHL had expanded to California four seasons earlier, yet even taken together the Kings and California Seals weren’t drawing enough fans to merit the word “crowd.”
“We were the punchline of a bad joke for a lot of years,” said Mike Murphy, who played with Vachon on those early Kings teams.
Rogie Vachon was the first player to have his jersey number retired by the Kings following his retirement. (Bruce Bennett Studios / Getty Images)
Hockey was wilting in the sun. If the sport was going to survive in the desert it needed stars, it needed personalities and it needed a cultural makeover — especially in Los Angeles, where the box-office draw was everything.
That’s where Vachon, a small-town farm boy from French-speaking Quebec, came in.
“It was really a culture shock,” he said. “In Montreal we won three [Stanley] Cups in four years. And then I come to L.A.; it’s sunny every time we go to practice or the game. Not a whole lot of people in the stands. Our team was pretty lousy too.
“So yeah it was a hell of a culture shock.”
Which brings up back to that 1975 photo, with the long-haired Vachon and his ferret-sized mustache looking fabulous in front of the Forum.
The clean shave and conservative haircut he had been forced to wear in Montreal were gone and Vachon was all Hollywood cool, as if Central Casting had created a West Coast hockey player — one with an unforgettable French-Canadian name full of soft vowels and voiced fricatives — and dressed him in a purple-and-gold No. 30 jersey.
And it worked.
“I think the fans really adopted me when I got there, probably because of my style,” said Vachon, who stretched out to 5-foot-8 if he stood on his tippy toes, but had a heart bigger than his body. “I was pretty quick. Small, but you know the style I was playing was very aggressive.
By the end of his third full season in L.A., Vachon had become Southern California’s first hockey star and the face of a franchise that badly needed one. He was not just a crowd favorite, NHL All-Star and the team’s first Vezina Trophy finalist, but he started the Kings on a streak that would see them qualify for the playoffs nine straight times, still a franchise record.
Not even Wayne Gretzky could match that.
“He was very popular,” said Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller, who began calling Kings games in Vachon’s second season in L.A. “He was very approachable. He was so dynamic and friendly. He made people want to come out and see games.”
Vachon, 80, did more than help the Kings survive, he helped them thrive. As a player he led the team to its first winning record, then returned to become the general manager who traded for Gretzky and drafted Hall of Famers Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake. He also had a winning record in three stints as an interim coach, making him the only man in franchise history to serve as a player, assistant coach, head coach and general manager.
Kings goaltender Rogie Vachon tries to avoid a collision with Chicago's Stan Mikita and the Kings' Dave Hutchison during a game in March 1977. (Fred Jewell / Associated Press)
In his last five seasons as the Kings’ goaltender, Vachon ranked in the top five in wins four times. In 1974-75, he led the NHL in save percentage (.927), had a career-best 2.24 goals-against average and finished 14 points behind Bobby Clarke in voting for the Hart Memorial Trophy, the league’s MVP award.
In many ways it remains the best regular season in franchise history, with the team earning a record 105 points and a .656 winning percentage in an 80-game season. It lost just 17 times, also a team record for a full season.
By the time Vachon left after seven seasons, the Kings were a perennial playoff contender. The Seals, who never found their star, went through four name changes and three ownership groups before moving to Cleveland.
Did Vachon save hockey in Southern California, and by extension open the NHL to a wave of expansion that has seen the league grow to 32 teams, some in warm-weather markets such as Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Anaheim and Las Vegas?
Well, he certainly didn’t hurt it.
“If it weren’t for him, maybe the Kings wouldn’t exist,” said Robitaille, the team’s all-time leading goal-scorer and its president since 2017. “He was a superstar. He brought people in, kept the Kings alive.
“It’s a pretty amazing record when you think about it.”
During his playing days, Vachon’s home was the 46 square feet directly in front of his team’s goal. Today his home is an eight-acre ranch in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley, about 45 miles south of Missoula.
“It’s nice and calm and we have mountains all over the place,” he said.
The nearest town, Hamilton, isn’t much bigger than the one where Vachon grew up in rural Quebec. Back then the farm he lived on had more than a dozen dairy cows, plus sheep, pigs and plow horses, since his family didn’t have a tractor. In retirement, he’s gone back to that childhood, mucking the stalls and helping care for a menagerie that includes two horses, 10 mini goats, two mini pigs, a pair of horses and a bunch of chickens and dogs and cats.
“The idea of coming out and getting a little bit of land and getting some animals, he liked that idea,” Vachon’s son, Nick, remembered. “But he said no cows. He might have been traumatized by the early mornings and milking twice a day.”
One of eight children — four boys and four girls — Vachon played his first hockey games at age 5 on a makeshift rink on the farm, and it wasn’t long before the neighborhood kids were taping department store catalogs to his legs for goalie pads and pushing him in front of the net — ostensibly for his safety since he was always the smallest kid on the ice.
He would never leave the crease, proving so comfortable there he was playing against grown men when he was just 12.
Montreal sent a regional scout named Scotty Bowman — who went on to become the winningest coach in NHL history — to scout him and he liked what he saw, so much so he convinced Vachon’s parents to let their teenage son sign with the Canadiens. Shortly after his 21st birthday, Vachon was in the NHL, making his debut without a mask and recording his first save on a breakaway by Hall of Famer Gordie Howe.
Montreal made the Stanley Cup Final in each of Vachon’s first three seasons, winning twice. But when he lost the starting job in goal to rookie Ken Dryden early in his sixth season, Vachon requested a trade and the Canadiens obliged, banishing him to L.A., then the NHL’s version of a warm-weather Siberia.
The Montana ranch where he lives now, surrounded by fir and pine trees, the shadows of the Bitterroots and silence, is the perfect retirement home, although it’s one Vachon found more by accident than design.
Vachon was still living by the beach in Southern California in 2016 when his wife, Nicole, whom he married less than a month after his trade to the Kings, died of brain cancer. Four years later, Vachon approached Nick, who was working as general manager of the L.A. Junior Kings/L.A. Lions, with the idea of uniting the family under one roof again.
Montreal goalie Rogie Vachon looks for the puck next to defenseman Serge Savard during a game against the St. Louis Blues in November 1969. (Fred Waters / Associated Press)
“I was living in a big house in Venice all by myself,” he said. “This sort of put into my mind that we should sell our houses in L.A. and move in together.”
So father and son rented a motor home, and along with Nick’s wife, Renee, and daughter Chloe, now 16, headed to Montana, where they found a home big enough for two horses, allowing Chloe, who grew up near the ocean in Redondo Beach, to train to become a barrel racer in the rodeo.
“We were definitely not horse people. Like what is a barrel racer? We had no idea,” said Nick Vachon, who followed his father into the NHL, playing one game with the New York Islanders — against the Kings — in 1996.
“She just loves animals. She’s kind of our resident vet. She helped deliver our baby goats and she does all the horse stuff.”
The elder Vachon hasn’t faced a puck in anger since his second and final season with the Boston Bruins in 1982. He says he’s just 15 pounds over his playing weight of 165 pounds, pretty fit for a guy limited by two knee replacements.
The once-famous dark mane has gone white and is neatly cropped and the bushy mustache is now just a brush of hair below his nose. But the cigars remain as do the memories, which are rekindled by the letters and autograph requests that still arrive regularly in the mailbox.
His Hall of Fame jacket, which Vachon says he hasn’t won since his induction a decade ago, sits on a hanger in a closet and just a few framed jerseys and photos hang on the walls of his five-bedroom farmhouse.
“He’s got some stuff,” Nick Vachon said. “But he’s pretty humble. He doesn’t like to put up too much.”
Vachon became one of the NHL’s top goaltenders in Los Angeles, so when he left as an unrestricted free agent after the 1977-78 season, he commanded what was then the top salary in history at his position, a five-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings worth $1.9 million. But he had two miserable seasons there, giving up more than 3½ goals a game, before being traded to Boston, where he did little better.
Still, when he retired in 1982, Vachon ranked among the top six all time in games and wins by a goalie. More than four decades later only Jonathan Quick has played or won more games for the Kings, who made Vachon’s No. 30 the first to be retired by the franchise.
However, there would be a second act for Vachon’s hockey career and naturally it would unfold in Los Angeles.
A year after his retirement, Vachon returned to the Kings as a goaltender coach, but before that first season was over he had been promoted to coach, then general manager, a position for which he had no experience, yet one he would hold for eight years, guiding the team to seven straight playoff berths and three trips to the division finals.
Those years proved consequential for other reasons as well since Vachon was the general manager who finalized the 1988 trade that brought Gretzky to L.A. Soon the Kings were the talk of the town, with President Reagan and wife Nancy even sitting rinkside.
The franchise had come a long way since Vachon’s early playing days, when those rinkside seats would sit empty.
Vachon was also the one who took Robitaille with the 171st pick, in the ninth round of the 12-round 1984 draft — and even then it was considered a gamble. But it was one that quickly paid off with Robitaille recording 191 points in his final junior season, then scoring 45 goals and winning the Calder Trophy in his first NHL campaign.
“The scouts were not quite as high on him as my dad was,” Nick Vachon said. “Finally he forces the scout at the table; he’s like ‘we’re picking Luc this round. I don’t care what you guys say.'"
“I owe him a lot,” Robitaille said of Vachon.
Robitaille, who also spent more time as an executive with the Kings then he did as a player with the team, said the transition from the ice to the front office can be a difficult one. Yet it’s one Vachon mastered quickly.
Luc Robitaille shakes hands with Rogie Vachon as Kings greats Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor look on before a pregame ceremony at the Forum in October 1998. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
“When you’re a player, you live the moment. All that matters is that day,” Robitaille said. “When you get into management, you’re trying to win tomorrow but at the same time you’ve got a plan for next season and sometimes two, three years ahead.”
In retirement, however, Vachon doesn’t have to think any further ahead than the next sunset.
“He’s such a nice man but at the same time he’s got a ton of character,” Robitaille said. “Every time I talk to him, he just sounds so happy. That’s what life is about, isn’t it?”
Vachon’s son agrees. Because while the long hair, the mustache and the Mercedes are all gone, a broad smile still creases the old goalie’s face.
“When we first moved out here, he’d go out every day and just take in the air,” Nick Vachon said. “He just sits outside and enjoys the fresh air and so yeah, he’s super happy.”
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