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On Sunday, MLB.com published an article titled 1 thing each team can improve upon the rest of the way with nuggets of information from each team’s beat writer.

Some teams need to be more productive with runners in scoring position, have more leadoff production or more base stealing, have a more consistent bullpen and more. Every team has things to improve — some more than others.

MLB.com’s Thomas Harding identified better hitting against right-handed pitching, specifically from Ezequiel Tovar, Brenton Doyle, Jordan Beck and Hunter Goodman. With Warren Schaeffer’s preference to focus on match-up specific lineups, Doyle’s and Beck’s struggles have relegated them to the bench more often than not.

If I could pick one thing, it would be to lower the strikeouts. The Rockies lead MLB with 401 total strikeouts and an average of 9.78 Ks per nine innings. I know this is a massive change to ask for, but just reducing those strikeouts by one per game would be a great start. My wishlist would be to finish around 20th in team strikeouts by the end of the season.

Your turn.

Realistic: What is one thing the Rockies can improve on the rest of the way?

Wishlist: What is the one thing you wish the Rockies could improve on the rest of the way?

Feel free to answer one or both.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

It’s hard to believe that Zack Wheeler was a major question mark less than a month ago. At least for now, he looked like the Zack Wheeler of old as he went 7.1 innings against the Red Sox while allowing one run on just 87 pitches in a 2-1 win. Kyle Schwarber tied the Phillies franchise record with a home run in his fifth straight game in the first inning and Bryson Stott added an RBI double in the second to give Wheeler all the offense he needed.

Boston started a left-handed opener in Jovani Morán and Schwarber promptly greeted him with his seventh first inning home run of the year. Schwarber became the eighth Phillies hitter to homer in five consecutive games and the first since Trea Turner in 2023.

Bryan Bello entered the game in the second for Boston to serve as the bulk pitcher, and Brandon Marsh quickly greeted him with single to right field on the first pitch that extended Marsh’s hitting streak to 13 games. J.T. Realmuto then grounded out to the pitcher but was able to move Marsh into scoring position. That proved to be important when Bryson Stott laced a cutter down the right field line at 109 MPH that hopped over the short Fenway wall for a ground rule double that scored Marsh and gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

But that was all the offense the team would muster, as they would have only three baserunners the rest of the game. Luckily for the Phillies, that was all they needed with Zack Wheeler on the mound.

Wheeler needed only six pitches in each of the first two innings to retire the side and needed just four to get through the third, as the Red Sox were swinging early and often and grounded into two double plays in just the first three innings. Wheeler did not throw more than two pitches to any hitter until facing Jarren Duran in the fourth, who ultimately went down on six pitches with a strikeout.

However, the seventh inning proved to be troublesome for Wheeler who had cruised through the previous six. Mickey Gasper led off with a single before Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida were both retired on fly outs, with Abreu’s landing in Adolis Garcia’s glove just steps from the short bullpen fence. But Trevor Story singled with two outs to put runners on the corners with two outs before Ceddanne Rafaela fought off a sinker on the hands and blooped it into shallow right for an RBI base hit.

Wheeler then got ahead 0-2 to Marcelo Mayer who scalded a 106 MPH grounder up the middle, but Trea Turner was able to make a nice play to field it cleanly and throw Mayer out to end the threat. Wheeler then went back out for the eighth and allowed a leadoff single to Carlos Narváez before getting Caleb Durbin to fly out to end his night. José Alvarado was then tasked with preserving the lead. He was able to do just that with a strikeout to end the inning after obtaining the second out on a replay review that overturned a safe call when Turner bobbled a 104 MPH grounder from Jarren Duran before running to tag second base. Wheeler meanwhile ended his night with six hits allowed, no walks, one hit by pitch, and four strikeouts on just 87 pitches. He generated seven total whiffs, and his fastball averaged 94.8 MPH, a slight uptick from his 94.5 average so far this season.

Jhoan Duran then entered in the ninth for his first save opportunity since April 11th. He quickly got Wilyer Abreu to strike out on a foul tip before Yoshida followed with a single. Isiah Kiner-Falefa entered as a pinch runner and stole second base after a replay review overturned an out call. Duran then walked Story to put the winning run on first with one out before getting a strikeout of Rafaela on a 99 MPH fastball way up and out of the zone. Mayer then sharply grounded out to second to allow Duran to escape the jam and seal the win for the Phillies.

Tomorrow’s matchup

Andrew Painter (1-4, 6.89) will look to rebound from his brutal last start against Sonny Gray (3-1, 3.54) of the Red Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, trying to stop a Dodgers losing streak.

Tuesday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Giants
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Pittsburgh’s PNC Park has never been a friendly stadium for the Colorado Rockies, and tonight was no exception, despite some late-game hits.

For the first six innings of the game, the Rockies went hitless in the face of Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes.

Although they would not be no-hit, the Rockies would be unable to put together enough offense for a win, despite solid pitching from Michael Lorenzen. Instead, they lost 3-1.

Michael Lorenzen? Gave the Rockies a chance

After getting behind early in the first, Lorenzen settled in, and although he surrendered hits, the Pirates did not score again until the fifth.

Given Lorenzen’s struggles in New York, there were questions as to how he would hold up against the Pirates, but he relied on his changeup, held his own, and gave the Rockies a chance.

In five innings pitched, he gave up two runs (both earned) on five hits. Lorenzen struck out five and walked two.

He now has a 6.55 ERA.

“Mike was good for us. That’s what we expect of him,” Schaeffer said.

He left the game with the Rockies down 2-0, but the loss was on an offense unable to figure out Skenes, not Lorenzen’s pitching.

The Rockies offense? Unable to handle Skenes

Once again, the Rockies offense failed to rise to the occasion.

The Pirates got on the board first when Nick Gonzales hit an RBI single that brought home Oneil Cruz — who led off the game with a double.

After a rough first inning that left the Rockies in a 1-0 hole, Lorenzen did settled in and did not allow the Pirates to score again until the fifth inning. However, it didn’t matter.

The Rockies did not manage to put the ball in play until the third inning. Prior to that, the first six batters all struck out. After the second inning, the Rockies managed to put the ball in play but remained hitless.

That said, please take a moment to appreciate this very fine defensive work by Tyler Freeman.

The Pirates were out of challenges and ABS challenges before the third inning ended, but given that the Rockies did not score — or even threaten to — until the end of the game, the lack of challenges was never a factor.

In the fifth, the Rockies had their first base runner when Troy Johnston was hit by a pitch on a Skenes 2-1 changeup. However, he was promptly caught stealing (and it wasn’t even close), ending the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Pirates notched their second run after Brandon Lowe brought home Cruz again. The fifth closed 2-0 Pirates.

Finally in the seventh inning, the Rockies got their first hit — a Mickey Moniak single. The Rockies were unable to capitalize, but at least they would not be no-hit!

Lorenzen left the game after the fifth inning, and turned the game over to the bullpen.

Skenes came back out for the eighth inning, and Johnston managed to hit a double with one out, but the Rockies again failed to score.

In the ninth, the Pirates turned to Gregory Soto, who had allowed just six hits in 20.1 IP prior. He retired Kyle Karros and Brenton Doyle, but Jordan Beck had different plans. After seeing 10 pitches, he hit a double.

Hunter Goodman followed up with his own double, which brought Beck home and scored the Rockies first run.

However, a TJ Rumfield ground ball ended the game.

The bullpen? Uneven

The Rockies used multiple relievers tonight, which seemed a bit unusual given their tendency to turn to long relievers.

Seth Halvorsen struck out three in the sixth and passed the baton to Victor Vodnik in the seventh, who struggled with his command. Vodnik gave up a walk and three singles, one of which scored a run.

However, Victor Vodnik struggled. On 26 pitches (13 for strikes), he allowed one run (earned) on three hits and a walk.

Jaden Hill’s appearance was fleeting. He entered the game with bases loaded and threw just two pitches to end the inning.

The eighth inning went to Jimmy Herget who did not allow any runs, but it was close. He allowed one hit — a leadoff double to Gonzales — one walk, and one strikeout on 22 pitches.

Paul Skenes? Still great

Paul Skenes has two NL Cy Young Awards at home on his mantle for a reason: He’s an exceptional pitcher. And the Rockies got to witness that for themselves tonight.

He tossed eight almost flawless innings, giving up no runs and just two hits on 98 pitches. He struck out 10 and walked one, allowing just one hard-hit ball.

Granted, the Rockies offense is not good, but Skenes is a great pitcher, and tonight, his stuff was working. He now has a 1.98 ERA.

“He was really good,” manager Warren Schaeffer said.

Reader, Paul Skenes is really, really good.

Up Next

The Rockies will meet the Pirates for Game 2 tomorrow at 4:40 pm when José Quintana will face Mitch Keller.

See you then!

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers on Tuesday announced the details of their annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night, which will be held on Friday, June 5 for the opener of a weekend series against the Angels. Among the highlights is the unveiling a permanent display in the center field plaza at Dodger Stadium for Glenn Burke and Billy Bean, both of whom played for the team.

From the Dodgers:

This year, the Dodgers will be installing a tribute to LGBTQ+ trailblazers Billy Bean and Glenn Burke, who both played for L.A. and were among the first professional athletes to identify as gay. The permanent display will be housed in the Centerfield plaza and feature pictures and memorabilia from their careers and text explaining the duo’s contributions to Major League Baseball and professional sports.

Bean played in six major league seasons from 1987-95, including part of 1989 with the Dodgers, playing all three outfield spots.

Bean worked for Major League Baseball from 2014 until his death in 2024 of acute myeloid leukemia at age 60, working as senior vice president for diversity, equity & inclusion and special assistant to the commissioner. Since 2025, MLB no longer includes the word “diversity” on its careers or inclusion pages.

Burke played the first two-plus seasons of his four-year career with the Dodgers and among other things, Burke is widely credited with inventing the high-five in 1977 with teammate Dusty Baker. The Dodgers traded Burke to the A’s in his hometown of Oakland in 1978 after learning he was gay, described by Andrew Maraniss, author of ‘Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke,’ in an interview with Steve Dittmore of True Blue LA in 2022:

During the offseason after the 1977 World Series, Al Campanis paid a visit to Glenn in the Bay Area. Glenn thought it was to talk about his role on the team in ‘78. Instead, Campanis offered Glenn a bribe to get married. Glenn asked, “To a woman?” When Campanis said yes, Glenn knew management was on to his sexuality, and he refused to go along with the plan. At that point, he knew his days with the Dodgers were numbered. Tommy Lasorda’s son, Spunky, was gay and Lasorda wasn’t happy that he and Glenn were friends. One of the things I found most interesting while researching the book is how hard Glenn’s teammates took his trade to the A’s. Sportswriters noticed players sitting at their lockers crying when they heard the news. That shows you what a presence Glenn had on that team, how much his teammates liked and respected him, even though he wasn’t a starter. And these guys knew he was gay. Some people contend, even today, that a gay player would be a “distraction” on a team. Glenn was anything but a distraction; he was one of the most popular players on the entire team.”

The Dodgers first meaningful acknowledgement of Burke came in 2022 during their Pride Night, when several of his family members in attendance and part of the ceremonies at Dodger Stadium, 27 years after his death.

Bean was a part of several previous Dodgers Pride Nights, including in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022. This new display in center field will be a more permanent way to honor Burke and Bean at Dodger Stadium.

Also as part of this year’s Pride Night ceremonies, 99-year-old Maybelle Blair, a former pitcher in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch. She was also part of Pride Night festivities in 2022.

More details on Pride Night here.

Trevor Rogers was ambushed in his return to the mound Tuesday night, giving up six runs in his first start in more than two weeks. That spelled disaster for the Orioles, who fell 6-2 in game of the series with the Yankees at Camden Yards.

Before the game even began, the Orioles got some bad news. Grant Wolfram, who has gone unused in the bullpen since May 6, was placed on the IL with a lower back strain. Shortly after that, the team had to scratch Dylan Beavers from the starting lineup due to right oblique discomfort. Obliques are notorious for nagging, so who knows what the outlook is for the rookie.

All of this would be a harbinger of the terrible things to come in the game ahead.

Orioles’ Opening Day starter Trevor Rogers made his highly-anticipated return from the IL in this one. He was greeted with a 402-foot home run off the bat of Paul Goldschmidt on the very first pitch of the game. Not ideal.

But it was in the third inning where the outing fell apart. Rogers loaded the bases with one out on a single and two walks. Then, Cody Bellinger drove in the Yankees’ second run of the day on a liner up the middle that Gunnar Henderson fielded and tried to turn into two outs, but could only nab the force out at second. Amed Rosario followed with an infield single that came on a bouncing ball down the third base line. Coby Mayo fielded it and made a running throw, but it was too late to retire Rosario. Judged scored on the play to make it a 3-0 game. Next up was Trent Grisham, who came through with a line drive to deep right-center for a three-run shot, extending the visitors’ lead to 6-0.

Rogers stuck around for the fourth inning to give the bullpen a little bit of help, but it didn’t make up for what was a poor showing overall. In those four innings, the lefty allowed six runs on six hits, three walks, three strikeouts, and two home runs. His season ERA is up to 5.77.

Stuff was not the problem for Rogers. In fact, his velocity and spin rates were both up compared to his season averages, and he had a whiff rate of 29% on the day. But when the Yankees did make contact it was very, very hard. Rogers gave up six balls in play at 103 mph or harder. Two of them were home runs. That is not good!

The Orioles offense created enough chances to get back into the game. They just didn’t make the most of them. That was never more true than in the bottom of the third inning, They managed to load the bases on a walk and a pair or fielders choices gone wrong for the Yankees. But all three runners would be stranded after Taylor Ward flew out and Adley Rutschman grounded into a double play to leave the O’s with no runs scored on the day.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Orioles finally got on the board against Yankees starter Will Warren. Ward led off with a double, and then came in to score on a Samuel Basallo single. Tyler O’Neill then forced Basallo to run the 270 feet between first base and home plate by hitting his first double of the season and driving in the O’s second run of the day. That narrowed the deficit to just four runs, the Orioles now trailing 6-2.

Another good chance to score came in the eighth inning. Ward got it going with a single. Pete Alonso singled as well to put two runners on with one out. The prompted a pitching change for the Yankees, which proved a wise decision. Tim Hill came on and got both Basallo and O’Neill to ground out and end the threat.

That would be the last real opportunity for the Orioles to mount a comeback. They went down in order in the ninth inning to lose the second game of the series by that 6-2 scoreline.

Ultimately, the difference in this game came down to the Orioles inability to hit with runners in scoring position. They went 1-for-12 in such situations and left seven runners on base. Of course, this is not a new development. The team has struggled with this all year.

Gunnar Henderson went 0-for-4. He and his .660 OPS hitting lead-off with any sort of regularity right now does not make sense, though it’s not as if the Orioles are rich with options anyway.

The bottom third of the lineup (Colton Cowser, Mayo, and Jeremiah Jackson) went 0-for-11 with four strikeouts and one walk. It’s a problem that won’t be solved by just one player, like Jackson Holliday, getting healthy. The team needs a miracle.

On the bright side, the bullpen was very good! Josh Walker worked two scoreless innings and struck out three in his Orioles debut. Yennier Cano, Andrew Kittredge, and Tyler Wells followed with one shutout inning each. They kept the team in the game and gave the O’s a chance. That’s really all you can ask for.

Rutschman had a mixed game on defense. He threw out two stolen base attempts, an area where he has really improved in 2026. He also dropped a foul ball pop-up in the ninth inning that fortunately did not come back to bite the team.

Basallo and Ward had two hits each. As has often been the case, they were the lone source of offense for an Orioles lineup that is really struggling.

The end of this series will come a bit sooner than originally planned. Due to expected weather in the area, the Orioles and Yankees moved up the start time for Wednesday’s game. First pitch will now be 1:05 from Camden Yards. Max Fried will go for the Yankees, and we do not yet know who Craig Albernaz plans to throw in the rubber match. Kyle Bradish would be on regular rest.

Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez left the team’s game against the Tigers in the bottom of the sixth inning this evening after tweaking his right knee while taking a swing. The Mets’ training staff and manager Carlos Mendoza came out to talk to Alvarez after seeing him in discomfort following the swing, and following a brief conversation, Mendoza signaled that he was taking Alvarez out of the game.

The 24-year-old has struggled with injuries since making his major league debut in 2022, but he looked very good at the plate last season after returning to the big leagues following an injury and a stint in Triple-A Syracuse. He wound up finishing the 2025 season with a .256/.339/.447 line, 11 home runs, and a 124 wRC+ in 277 major league plate appearances.

So far this year, Alvarez has hit .236/.315/.382 with four home runs and a 105 wRC+ in 128 plate appearances. If he were to miss any time, the Mets would presumably be looking at calling up one of Hayden Senger or Ben Rortvedt from Syracuse. Of the two, Senger is the one who’s already on the Mets’ 40-man roster, which is currently full.

The 2026 Yankees have been masters of the crooked number. The fun comes in bunches this year, and that theme continued in Baltimore on Tuesday night as the Yankees plated five in the third inning en route to a 6-2 series-evening win. Paul Goldschmidt hit a leadoff homer on the game’s first pitch, and Trent Grisham’s three-run shot in the third was the coup de grace as the Yanks snapped a four-game skid. Will Warren worked around poor defense to turn in a strong winning start, opening the door for a potential series win tomorrow at Camden Yards.

Let’s not waste any time—the Yankees sure didn’t. With a recent spate of injuries testing New York’s depth, it was comforting to see Goldschmidt set the tone from the words “play ball” by taking Trevor Rogers’ first delivery into the left field stands for a leadoff home run. Goldy’s fourth homer of the year overall—which zipped over our own lead editor Andrew Mearns’ head—got the Bombers off to a strong start.

Warren pitched around an automatic double in the home second to make that lead stand up. In the top of the third, just as Rogers was finding his rhythm, the Yankees got him to stagger off the beat. A leadoff hit from Austin Wells was quickly followed by consecutive walks to Aaron Judge and Ben Rice, loading the bags for Cody Bellinger. Cody successfully put the ball in play, hitting a shot up the middle and beating out a would-be double play turn from Gunnar Henderson to earn an RBI fielder’s choice.

From there, the Yankees’ two-out success they’ve enjoyed for most of the year returned from its brief absence. Amed Rosario plated Judge on a bouncing infield hit to third base which continued Rogers’ own early-season troubles with the big inning. It only got worse for the southpaw when Grisham stepped into the box.

Ever the cool customer, Grisham worked the count full on the laboring Oriole starter before finding a pitch he liked middle-in. He corked a payoff fastball into the right-center gap which continued to carry to the gap. Trent knew he got it, but I’m not sure too many folks in attendance (Andrew included?) expected that ball to clear the fence for a backbreaking three-run homer.

Grisham’s sixth homer gave him 26 RBI in ‘26, and made it 6-0 Yankees. If this sounds vaguely familiar, well, recall the six-run sixth inning the Big Sleep starred last week to cement six straight series wins. The pattern-recognition brain recognizes patterns, though there’s certainly no reason to this rhyme.

The rest of Warren’s day on the mound was eventful, to say the least. Back-to-back misplays from the Yankee infield loaded the bases with nobody out, compelling the Mississippian to make his way through the top of Baltimore’s order. He did splendidly, getting Taylor Ward to pop out before coaxing a double-play ball from Adley Rutschman that Rosario mercifully fielded cleanly to start an inning-ending 4-6-3.

After a palate cleanser in a gorgeous running catch from Bellinger in foul ground to wrap up the fourth, more shenanigans from Rosario and a wild pitch gave Baltimore a free runner in scoring position. It was a fresh lemon which the struggling Gunnar Henderson could not squeeze into lemonade.

Still, the extra pitches his infield forced him to throw led Warren to run out of steam with two outs in the sixth inning—much to his extreme annoyance, I’m sure. Samuel Basallo broke the seal with an RBI single, then Tyler O’Neill belted a gapper to right center that Grisham, shaded to the opposite side, could not quite corral on a dive. The ball bounced away from him enabling Basallo to score easily.

Warren promptly exited having thrown 96 pitches, the most from him in a single start this year. Fernando Cruz cleaned up the minor spill, closing Will’s line at 5.2 innings with two runs on four hits, a walk, and six punchouts. Considering that shoddy defensive work, his line deserved to be much prettier—but he did a great job bouncing back from a tough day in the Bronx against Texas.

The O’s didn’t go away. Cruz did his job grabbing four key outs, but Jake Bird couldn’t subdue his fellow avian friends. Base hits from Ward and Pete Alonso necessitated a visit from Aaron Boone and a move for Tim Hill to face the grooving Basallo. Hill arguably did his job too well, inducing a weak dribbler which burnt an out to move both runners up 90 feet. But sometimes the sequencing just works out for you. O’Neill bounced to the hot corner to fall to 2-for-26 against left-handed pitching on the season, and another opposing rally was left stranded on the Hillside.

It didn’t result in any runs, but may I just say: the overturned low-third-strike-on-Judge-to-base-hit combo we saw in the top of the ninth was exquisite. It felt like New York scored there, even though Ben Rice popped out a batter later to strand a pair. Either way, the Yanks carried a four-run lead into the ninth inning for David Bednar.

The Renegade retrieved his bounty (don’t yell at me, I know that’s not how the song goes) with a squeaky-clean ninth inning. He started by striking out Colton Cowser on a filthy splitter, then grabbed a groundout and an easy fly ball right to secure the Yankees’ 27th win. The extremely stressful version of Bednar we saw in April seems to have logged off in May. And thankful we all are for it.

Don’t forget, Prime Video fans and haters! Amazon’s got the rights for the Wednesday game—even a suddenly-rescheduled matinee! Max Fried is thankful not to have to play stopper for a losing streak—he’ll face Kyle Bradish, who wasn’t formally announced until the ninth. First pitch is at 1:05 pm tomorrow!

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