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The St. Louis Cardinals got a positive if not spectacular start from Kyle Leahy on Sunday, but it was Jordan Walker’s Mother’s Day moonshot that helped the Cardinals nearly beat the San Diego Padres. Almost.

If you just look strictly at the numbers, Kyle Leahy really did have a solid start on Sunday. While his bottom of the 1st inning was a bit nerve-racking, he was able to escape without allowing a run and ended up pitching the Cardinals into the 5th inning. His overall stat line was 5 full innings allowing no runs, on just 2 hits with 5 strikeouts and 4 walks. It was the walks that made a few innings uncomfortable, but job well done, Kyle. He made a crucial play in the bottom of the 5th inning when he nabbed a ball up the middle as it ended up in his glove after traveling between his legs before tossing it to Alec Burleson for the final out of the inning.

The big highlight of the game was Jordan Walker as he worked a 2-1 count in his favor against Walker Buehler before he launched a ball off of the upper deck railing of the Western Metal Supply Company building. Suffice it to say that none of those fans at that level expected to get that close to a baseball today, but Jordan gave it a high launch angle 425 foot ride. The look on Walker Buehler’s face when he saw where the ball landed is priceless.

Manager Oli Marmol turned to his bullpen in the 6th inning as Ryne Stanek was the first man up. He got off to a great start thanks in part to the fact that San Diego wasted all of their ABS challenges in the 2nd inning. Stanek shut down the Padres 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 6th inning.

JoJo Romero was given the bottom of the 7th inning task and he kept the Padres bats silent. He stayed in the game to start the bottom of the 8th inning, but was relieved by George Soriano with 1 out. He unfortunately brought up the tying run to the plate when he promptly walked Fernando Tatis Jr. on 4 straight pitches before facing the dangerous Manny Machado. Soriano fortunately struck out Machado and got Sheets out on a soft groundout to second to end the bottom of the 8th.

Riley O’Brien was brought in to shut down San Diego in the bottom of the 9th inning. A save would have given him his 12th of the season which is appropriate as that would tie San Diego Padres Mason Miller for the Major League lead. That unfortunately did not happen. It began with an innocent-looking bloop single to center by Xander Boegaerts. O’Brien was able to get Andujar and France to strike out, but Nick Castellanos connected on a 2-out, 2 strike pitch and send it over the left field wall to tie the game 2-2. Riley got Laureano to strike out to send the game into extras.

The Cardinals could accomplish nothing in the top of the 10th inning stranding the extra innings runner Burleson as Walker and Gorman struck out. Masyn Winn walked, but Fermin popped out to end the Cardinals 10th leaving the game tied 2-2.

Gordon Graceffo was brought in to keep the Padres off the board. After intentionally walking Merrill to put runners on 1st and 2nd to set up a double play, Gordon nearly hit Tatis Jr., but the ball glanced off of his bat for a strike. Tatis Jr. would eventually walk to load the bases bringing up Manny Machado. He unfortunately hit a sacrifice fly just deep enough to right center where Jordan Walker was unable to throw out the runner at the plate giving San Diego a 3-2 victory.

The Cardinals will have a quiet travel day Monday to cruise up the California coast to Sacramento before their late Tuesday night game against the city-less Athletics who are currently in first place in their division. Andre Pallante is scheduled to get the start for St. Louis. First pitch scheduled for 8:40pm central time Tuesday night.

Detroit Tigers (18-22) vs. Kansas City Royals (19-21)

Time/Place: 7:20 p.m., Kauffman Stadium
SB Nation Site: Royals Review
Media: NBC Sports Network/Peacock, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Brenan Hanifee (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. LHP Noah Cameron (2-2, 5.40 ERA)

In the “he can’t keep getting away with this” starter battle, it was Bryce Elder who came out on top as the winning pitcher. 

With some drama, I must say upfront. But even though Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski outlasted Elder, you’d take Elder’s final line every day.

This was a fascinating pitching duel: both Elder and Wrobleski had streaks of setting down 10+ batters in efficient and dominant ways. But the Braves managed to get to Wrobleski in a big second inning. 

Matt Olson made the first out in the second, but an Austin Riley single and Michael Harris II bunt (!) put runners on for Eli White’s RBI single to make it 1-0, Braves. Sean Murphy’s forceout put runners at the corners, followed by Jorge Mateo working a walk. That set the table for the Mauricio Dubón special: a bases clearing double to make it 4-0. 

Unfortunately, Wrobleski settled down after that and earned a shot to pitch a complete game. He and Elder would trade off throwing up zeroes for the next several innings. 

Bryce was cruising. The vibes were good. Cy Young jokes were being made. He got two outs in the bottom of the sixth and then just… couldn’t find the zone suddenly, issuing three straight walks to load the bases. Walt Weiss prompted Murphy to chat with him on the mound a little to stall and give the bullpen more time to get ready. Things we love to see: Weiss going to Robert Suarez here in the sixth. Max Muncy worked a tense full count. Eli White, absolutely disregarding his body and physical safety, went full speed into the wall. He careened off of it. Robert Suarez held both arms up in cautious celebration. But we shouldn’t have doubted – you can’t spell elite without Eli. The inning was over. 

Eli would take his next at bat but come out of the game – we await more news on his status.

The next few scoring plays would feature the long ball. Drake Baldwin’s homer in the top of the eighth was the first allowed by Wrobleski this year and made it 5-0. Tyler Kinley came in to pitch the eighth and allowed a two-run homer to Muncy to make it 5-2. Matt Olson was not about to get a Golden Sombrero here on Mother’s Day. His 14th homer of the year and Mateo’s RBI single to drive in Yaz (who wore one on the earhole, yikes) got those two runs back. Wrobleski was lifted one out shy of a complete game after hitting Yaz with pitch #100. 

Bryce Elder lowered his ERA to 1.81, and Wrobleski’s went from 1.25 to 2.42. 

Despite the five run cushion, Raisel Iglesias came in to finish this one out and exorcise some Mother’s Day demons. He worked a perfect ninth to secure the series win and close the book on a 6-3 West Coast road trip. Have a happy flight home, boys.

PHOENIX — The Mets disrespected all mothers on their day by not playing nice.

A no-show lineup has become the norm, but Sunday they added shoddy defense — or run prevention, if you prefer — into the equation and departed the desert with sand in their pants in a 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.

It was a second straight game the Mets (15-25) scored only one run after scoring only once in nine innings Friday before adding two in the 10th to win. The Mets lost the series, completing a 5-4 road trip that also included stops in Anaheim and Colorado.

Juan Soto, the team’s best hitter, went 4-for-33 (.121) on the road trip with one homer.

“It’s tough. I have just been missing a lot of balls,” Soto said. “They have been throwing me pitches that I have just been a little under, and I have been working with the hitting coaches, swinging the bat, doing my routine, working on mechanics. You’re at the point where you got to stop missing it.”

If the weak offensive attack (only five hits) wasn’t enough, Andy Ibáñez committed two throwing errors as the starting third baseman. The second of those errors let the D’backs score three unearned runs in the sixth inning to bury the Mets in a 5-1 hole.

D’backs lefty Eduardo Rodriguez brought a no-hitter into the sixth and lasted into the ninth. He allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks over 8 ¹/₃ innings.

“We chased,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “The few at-bats that we got ahead, he kept going to that changeup and getting ground balls. We didn’t make the adjustment there and we swung at his pitches when we needed to do damage.”

How can Mendoza get players to stop chasing pitches?

“We’re trying to figure it out, because we have been chasing a lot,” Mendoza said. “I think it’s just more when we’re ahead in counts, we have seen that the past few days.”

Huascar Brazobán, chosen as the opener, worked into the second inning and walked Ildemaro Vargas and Nolan Arenado to begin the frame. Tobias Myers got two outs before Ryan Waldschmidt’s double gave the D’backs a 2-0 lead.

Soto walked leading off the fourth to snap a streak of 22 straight Mets batters retired over two games. But the inning went nowhere: After Bo Bichette was retired, Austin Slater grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Soto was asked about the biggest issue facing the lineup.

“There’s no issues right here,” Soto said. “We’re all professionals. We all can handle this stuff, but definitely guys are struggling a little bit right now, but I think it’s going to pass.”

David Peterson allowed a two-out single to James McCann in the fourth and should have escaped the inning on Jorge Barrosa’s grounder. But Ibáñez’s throw from third pulled Mark Vientos off first base for an error. Peterson rebounded to retire Waldschmidt.

Peterson’s two-base throwing error on Geraldo Perdomo’s bunt with two outs in the fifth kept the inning alive. Peterson unloaded a wild pitch that moved the runner to third before retiring Adrian Del Castillo.

Rodriguez pitched 5 ¹/₃ hitless innings before Carson Benge’s bloop single ended the no-hit watch. Luis Torrens followed with an RBI double that pulled the Mets within 2-1. But Soto was retired and after Bichette walked, Rodriguez got Slater to ground out.

Ibáñez’s second throwing error of the day allowed Vargas to reach leading off the bottom of the sixth. Peterson got two outs before Barrosa and Waldschmidt each singled. The second of those hits gave the D’backs a 3-1 lead. Ketel Marte’s ensuing triple widened the deficit to 5-1. All three runs were unearned.

“I stood a little bit wide and [the throw] got away from me,” Ibáñez said through an interpreter.

Peterson did not allow an earned run over five innings in a second straight solid relief appearance.

“I felt like I had command of every pitch,” Peterson said. “I felt like everything was working.”

The Kansas City Royals have already clinched a series win and a winning homestand after taking the first two contests against the Detroit Tigers. A thrilling comeback and walk-off on Friday and a dominant Michael Wacha outing last night have propelled the Royals back to 19-21 on the season. If the season ended today, the Royals would be the final team into the field in the American League.

Noah Cameron returns to the mound after missing his Tuesday start due to lower back tightness. The lefty has had a tough start to his sophomore year, with a 5.40 ERA over his first 31.2 innings. After two really good starts to begin the year, Cameron’s last 4 have been really rough, giving up 17 runs in 21 innings pitched. Cameron’s last start came on getaway day in Sacramento. The Athletics crushed Cameron, chasing him for 9 hits, 5 runs, over 5.1 innings. That start came 10 days ago.

The Royals offense has been rather good over the last 15 games, as the Royals have won 11 of those contests. A big part of it has been lineup consistency, with a lot of the same faces getting the start. Tonight however, Salvador Perez will get the game completely off. Perez has been dealing with hip soreness, which has meant a lot of DH’ing. Today is also Salvy’s 36th birthday, along with-it being Mother’s Day. So happy birthday Captain!

Elias Diaz starts behind the plate tonight, and Nick Loftin, who’s been swinging a hot bat, starts at second base. Isaac Collins will hit cleanup with Perez out of the lineup, otherwise, everything else is rather standard for the Royals tonight.

The Tigers have had a really really bad week. Tarik Skubal had elbow surgery and is out for the foreseeable future, Framber Valdez is serving a suspension for intentionally hitting Trevor Story after the Red Sox were crushing him, and position players keep getting hurt. With all of that, they have lost 5 in a row and 10 of their last 14.

Tonight is expected to be a bullpen game for them, after last night they had an opener, with Ty Madden throwing the bulk innings. Brenan Hanifee, a 27-year-old righty gets the start of the anticipated bullpen game. Hanifee has thrown 6.2 scoreless innings so far this season. Hanifee heavily relies on a sinker but also mixes in a slider and changeup.

Here is the Tigers starting lineup behind Hanifee and the bullpen.

The Royals can sweep their third straight weekend series tonight with a win. They swept the Angels at home two weeks ago, and the Mariners in Seattle last week. A win would also put the Royals just a single game under .500, which would be the first time since they were 7-8, going into the series finale against the White Sox. Tonight is the last game of 13 straight days of baseball for the Royals. They will finally have an off day tomorrow, before taking on the White Sox and Cardinals on the road next week. Tonight’s game can be streamed on Peacock or NBCSN, first pitch is set for 6:20 p.m. CT.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Max Muncy couldn’t help but throw his hands up in disbelief.

In a frustrating loss for the Dodgers –– that continued a confounding slump from their hot-and-cold offense –– such was the defining image of the day and much of their form recently.

In the bottom of the sixth inning Sunday, with the Dodgers facing a four-run deficit to the Braves, Muncy thought he had done everything right in the most pivotal moment of the game.

He’d worked a full count in a bases-loaded, two-out opportunity. He got the pitch he was looking for from Braves reliever Robert Suarez on a fastball up, but not out, of the strike zone. And even though he’s cooled off recently, he barreled up a vicious swing and launched a 107 mph rocket deep to right field.

For the briefest of moments, it seemed like a comeback was on.

Braves right fielder Eli White, however, had other ideas.

With a leaping effort that sent him crashing face-first into the wall and knocked him flat on his back along the warning track, White held on for a game-changing catch.

It was as close as the Dodgers would come in their 7-2 loss at Dodger Stadium.

And it left Muncy — who later hit a two-run homer that would prove too little, too late — stunned as he pulled up just past first base.

“Who do I gotta pay off at this point?” he thought to himself. “A lot of really good swings, just nothing to really show for it.”

Same thing goes for the entire team now, given its increasingly shaky play lately.

On Sunday, the Dodgers (24-16) fell behind by four runs in the second inning; the low point of a statistically anomalous 8 ⅔-inning, seven-run start from early-season breakout star Justin Wrobleski.

They managed just two hits yet still found a way to strand seven men on base, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position in another inopportunistic performance from the lineup.

And in the end, they were simply less clinical than a Braves team that has the most wins in the majors, dropping a marquee series rubber match that leaves them 9-12 since April 18.

“Just kind of as a unit, I don’t think that we’re one piece right now,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s not from lack of effort. We’ve been in this funk for quite some time. Those guys, they pitched well. But still, that’s kind of where we’re at.”

What it means

That, at least for now, the Dodgers aren’t baseball’s best team.

That honor probably instead belongs to the Braves (28-13), who made Wrobleski pay for his own defensive mistake in their back-breaking four-run second inning.

After giving up one run on three consecutive two-out singles (one of them via a bunt), Wrobleski got Sean Murphy to hit a comebacker to the mound that should’ve been turned for an inning-ending double play.

Alas, the left-hander misfired on his throw to second, which was too high for Alex Freeland to make the turn to first. After that, Wrobleski walked No. 9 hitter Jorge Mateo to load the bases, then gave up a three-run double to Mauricio Dubón.

Total frustration. Almost all of it self-inflicted.

“Just didn’t turn a double play,” Wrobleski said. “If I turn a double play … wouldn’t have been a bad outing.”

It didn’t help, of course, that the Dodgers failed to conjure any of their own two-out magic.

In the first inning, they left two runners stranded when Muncy struck out against Atlanta starter Bryce Elder to extinguish the threat. In the seventh, they watched Freeland and Shohei Ohtani (who continued his own personal struggles with a 0-for-4 day) come up empty with two aboard. And in between that, there was White’s robbery of Muncy, which came after Elder issued three consecutive two-out walks in the sixth.

“We really haven’t been able to put together innings,” Roberts said. “We did in that one inning, [and then] the right fielder makes a great play.”

Who’s hot

Wrobleski might not be any longer. But his strange statistical feats sure are.

A week after becoming the first Dodgers pitcher in a quarter-century to pitch six scoreless innings without a strikeout, the young left-hander nearly became the first pitcher in the club’s Los Angeles history to throw a nine-inning complete game with seven runs allowed.

That was only possible because, after the disastrous second inning, Wrobleski retired 16 batters in a row to keep the Dodgers within striking distance. He also set a season high for strikeouts with seven.

However, he faded late, giving up solo home runs to Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson in the eighth and ninth, respectively, before coming up one out shy of going the distance by plunking Mike Yastrzemski with his 100th pitch of the day.

After giving up six total runs in his first six outings this year, Wrobleski’s ERA nearly doubled to 2.42.

Who’s not

Quite simply, the Dodgers’ offense, which once again left Roberts struggling to offer an explanation.

“I really don’t have an answer,” he said, “outside of, it’s kind of the ebbs and flows of a long season.”

While that may be true, this ebb is starting to last a concerningly long time. After believing they’d turned a corner during a series win in Houston, the Dodgers managed just seven total runs in their three games against the Braves this weekend and have failed to score more than three runs in eight of their last 11 games.

“We had some guys hit some balls hard, and we had some guys hitting the ball soft,” Muncy said. “None of them seem to fall. It’s just kind of how the game goes sometimes.”

Up next

The Dodgers open a four-game series with the Giants on Monday. Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.97 ERA) will face right-hander Trevor McDonald (1-0, 1.29 ERA).

The Dodgers (24-16) dropped their second straight game with a score of 7-2 to the Braves (28-13) on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. Justin Wrobleski was one out away from a complete game, but the offense didn’t come through. They collected only seven runs in the series loss to the MLB-best Braves.

Andy Pages picked up his third base hit of the series with a two-out single against Bryce Elder in the bottom of the first. Kyle Tucker drew a walk to give the Dodgers two on and two out. Elder struck out Max Muncy to strand both runners.

The Braves struck first again, putting up a crooked number in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. Wrobleski struggled in the fourth inning against the Braves, allowing a four-run rally that included a costly throwing mistake on a potential inning-ending double play ball.

Austin Riley’s base hit and Michael Harris II’s bunt single gave the Braves runners at first and second with one out for Eli White. White’s RBI single to center field gave the Braves the lead first, and they never relinquished it thereafter.

Mauricio Dubón doubled in three runs after a Sean Murphy force out and Jorge Mateo walk.

For the seventh time in the last 13 innings, the Dodgers went down in order again, this time versus Elder in the bottom of the fifth.

After the disaster of a second inning, Wrobleski settled in well. He struck out Matt Olson three times and kept the Braves potent offense to just four hits to that point.

The Dodgers looked to take advantage of Elder’s fading command. Back-to-back free passes from Elder in the bottom of the sixth kept the door ajar for the Dodgers. A fatiguing Elder walked Tucker to load the bases for Muncy.

Walt Weiss went to his bullpen to counter Muncy’s power at the plate with reliever and former Friar Robert Suarez.

Muncy crushed a 3-2 Suarez four-seamer to right field, but Eli White crashed into the wall face first and somehow held on to the scorched ball to end the inning and potentially save the game for Atlanta.

The Dodgers managed to get another two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh. This time they had two outs to work with and runners aboard. Suarez walked Alex Call, and Hyeseong Kim reached on catcher’s interference. Sean Murphy’s glove got in the way, and the Dodgers got their way. Dave Roberts got Shohei Ohtani to the plate with two runners on and two outs.

Ohtani grounded out to first base, his slump persisting. The Braves held Ohtani to just two hits in the series.

Max Muncy and Drake Baldwin both hit their 10th home run of the season in the eighth inning.

Drake Baldwin made it 5-0 Atlanta with a solo home run against Wrobleski in the eighth.

Muncy got a second shot at the Atlanta bullpen with a base runner on in the bottom of the eighth, and he didn’t miss this time. He clobbered the first pitch he saw from Tyler Kinney for a 420-foot two-run home run halfway up the Right Field Pavilion.

Wrobo was back out for the ninth, but Olson took advantage and sent a leadoff solo shot to right-center to make it 6-2. He was one out away from completing the game, but he beaned Mike Yastrzemski. Dave Roberts brought in Wyatt Mills for the final out in his first major-league appearance since 2022.

The Braves cashed in the hit-by-pitch and added another insurance run. Mills allowed hits to Dominic Smith and Mateo to make it 7-2.

The Dodgers now turn to the Giants for a four-game series.

Sunday particulars

Home runs: Drake Baldwin (10), Max Muncy (10), Matt Olson (14)

WP — Bryce Elder (4-1): 5 2/3 IP, 1 hit, no runs, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts (83)

LP — Justin Wrobleski (5-1): 8 2/3 IP, 7 hits, 7 runs, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk (100)

Up next

The Dodgers open a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants Monday night at Dodger Stadium (7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA). Roki Sasaki (1-3, 5.97 ERA, 1.67 WHIP) faces the Giants for the first time in his career. Trevor McDonald (1-0, 1.29 ERA, 7 IP). starts for San Francisco.

Mostly due to another forgettable day at the plate, the Mets lost 5-1 to the Diamondbacks on Sunday in Arizona, as a once-promising road trip ended with two straight losses. 

It was still a winning trip, at 5-4, but the Mets need a winning streak to begin digging out of the hole they’re in, with their 15-25 record. 

Their offense continues to be their biggest problem. They scored a total of two runs in the two losses in Arizona, and their season total of 140 runs is the second-lowest in the majors, ahead of only the San Francisco Giants. 

The defense hurt them as well on Sunday, as the Mets made three errors.

Here are the takeaways...

-- The Mets were dominated by lefty Eduardo Rodriguez for the second time this season. 

Rodriguez held the Mets to one run over seven innings at Citi Field in early April, and he was even better on Sunday, allowing one run over 8 1/3 innings. 

The Mets managed only four hits off the left-hander, two of them by backup catcher Luis Torrens. 

-- Juan Soto had two chances to make a big impact on the game with runners on base, but flew out routinely against Rodriguez in both the sixth and eighth innings. 

Soto is slumping badly at a time when the Mets desperately need him to carry the offense. He went 4-for-33 (.121) on the nine-game road trip, and 2-for-26 (.077) over the last seven games. 

-- David Peterson had a second straight solid outing as the bulk reliever in the game, going five innings that may well have been scoreless if not for an Andy Ibanez error that led to three runs in the sixth inning.

For whatever reason, Peterson seems to pitch better out of the bullpen than as a starter. On this day he followed Huascar Brazoban and Tobias Myers, coming in to start the third inning. 

He allowed four hits and, notably for him, issued no walks. He struck out three D-Backs hitters.

-- Andy Ibanez didn’t look like much of a third baseman in his debut there with the Mets -- certainly not the throwing part anyway. He made two throwing errors, both times high and wide to the home plate side, and the second one, in the sixth inning, proved crucial when the D-Backs went on to score three unearned runs to take a 5-1 lead.

Peterson had a chance to get out of the inning, but with two outs gave up three straight hits, two singles and an opposite-field triple to Ketel Marte down the line in right field, off the fence. 

Ibanez is a 33-year-old journeyman utility man who has played plenty of third base over the years. He was claimed off waivers from the Athletics on April 30, and in the lineup to give the Mets an additional right-handed bat against Rodriguez. 

-- Poor defense cost the Mets in the second inning when Mark Vientos failed to turn a pickoff into an out, reacting slowly to Brazoban’s throw to first, allowing Ildemaro Vargas to reach second base safely. 

When Vargas took off for second early, Brazoban threw behind him to first base, but Vientos didn’t come off the bag toward the ball to shorten the distance on both the catch and the throw to second, and Vargas beat his throw to second base. 

There was no error on the play but the mistake proved costly when Nolan Arenado walked and rookie Ryan Waldschmidt doubled with two outs off Tobias Myers to drive in two runs. 

-- The Mets were no-hit through five innings by Rodriguez before Carson Benge hit a soft liner into center field for a single with one out in the sixth. 

That led to a run when Luis Torrens followed with an opposite-field double down the right field line, scoring Benge to get the Mets on the board, trailing 2-1. 

Game MVP: Eduardo Rodriguez

The left-hander is having an outstanding season, now 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA. Rodriguez had a chance to pitch the first complete game of his career, but when he gave up a bloop single to Vientos with one out in the ninth, manager Torrey Lovullo pulled him with his pitch count at 100. 

Highlights

The Mets are on the board!

Luis Torrens brings home Carson Benge with a double! pic.twitter.com/n0E8HFCuBR

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 10, 2026

Tyrone Taylor makes the diving catch in center field! pic.twitter.com/uzvYT4Um0l

— SNY (@SNYtv) May 10, 2026

What's next

The Mets return home and after an off day on Monday are back in action on Tuesday when they host the Detroit Tigers to start a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on SNY.

Neither team has announced a starter yet.