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Whew, baby! Exhale everyone, and take the remainder of this pregame to rest on the laurels of an electric Crosstown conclusion that was almost certainly the best such series from a South Side perspective since 2021’s roller coaster three-gamer at then-Guaranteed Rate Field. That one, you might remember, was also characterized by a lopsided win for each side and a dramatic, unlikely White Sox comeback to split the difference. There were also shades of 2019, when Eloy Jiménez’s ninth inning, game-winning bomb produced one of the iconic calls of Jason Benetti’s White Sox tenure and, just as importantly at the time, announced to baseball fans in Chicago that the Sox were once again worth paying attention to.

It remains to be seen what kind of trajectory the 2026 team will follow for the remainder of this summer, but while Benetti’s call might have been absent from Edgar Quero’s heroics yesterday, the image of pandemonium as he rounded the bases may similarly remain as a point of reference in the memory of this squad’s emergence from the abyss.

I’ve been calling it “Ricky’s Boys Don’t Quit: 2026 Version,” and it seems to keep holding true. That 2019 team was hovering around .500 as late as the All-Star Break before fading down the stretch to the tune of 89 losses. That 2019 team was also characterized by simultaneous, exciting and unlikely breakouts from Lucas Giolito, Yoán Moncada, and Tim Anderson, supplemented by Jiménez largely meeting expectations as a rookie, perhaps not dissimilar from what we’re witnessing out of Davis Martin, Colson Montgomery, Miguel Vargas, and Munetaka Murakami now.

What smells more promising this time around is that the major league roster in 2019 didn’t have a stream of incoming reinforcements anything near to what we’re expecting in 2026. Luis Robert Jr. and Nick Madrigal weren’t realistically expected to arrive until the following year, and Andrew Vaughn wasn’t even in the system until midway through the season. Dylan Cease and Zack Collins were the only prospects of note to graduate to the big leagues in 2019, and even if their meager contributions can’t be beat by whatever combination of Braden Montgomery, Jacob Gonzalez, Hagen Smith, Tanner McDougal, and perhaps even Rikuu Nishida makes it to Chicago this summer, there’s still the return of Kyle Teel to look forward to. I suspect the final fortunes of the 2019 team would have been better if they had been able to call upon Sam Antonacci early in the season instead of dedicated 400+ outfield plate appearances to Ryan Cordell and Charlie Tilson.

Tragically, that 2019 time never quite even made it above .500, peaking at 34-34 on June 18. Tonight, facing the Mariners for the second time in as many weeks, the Sox have a chance to make it three games above water, a feat they haven’t managed since Sept. 20, 2022. Here’s the lineup they’ll run out to try to get it done:

It’s probably fortunate that Noah Schultz missed Seattle when they came to town, because after averaging four walks per game over his last four starts, tonight might be the night that I start to worry about him just a little bit if he can’t show some progress at limiting the free passes.

If you’re noticing that Will Venable seems to have emptied the bench of lefties tonight, it’s because Seattle is set counter with Bryan Woo and his 100-point OPS platoon split.

Woo has been largely excellent this season, with only a two-start, 13-run aberration spiking his ERA to 3.91 on the aggregate. First pitch is a late one, of course, scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CT from T-Mobile Park. If you want to join us, broadcasts are available on CHSN (TV) and WMVP AM 1000 (radio) like always!

Finally, the Dodgers and Padres meet for the first time in 2026.

Monday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Padres
• Ballpark: Petco Park, San Diego
• Start time: 6:40 p.m. PT
• TV: SportsNet LA
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

The San Francisco Giants begin a three-game road series against the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight.

Taking the mound for the Giants will be left-hander Robbie Ray, who enters tonight’s game with a 3.04 ERA, 4.92 FIP, with 49 strikeouts to 20 walks in 50.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers last Wednesday, in which he allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts and two walks in four and two thirds innings.

He’ll be facing off against Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen, who enters tonight’s game with a 5.02 ERA, 4.58 FIP, with 29 strikeouts to 14 walks in 43 innings pitched. His last start was in the Diamondbacks’ 7-4 loss to the Texas Rangers last Tuesday, in which he allowed seven runs (four earned) on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks in four and two thirds innings.

Game #48

Who: San Francisco Giants (20-27) – Arizona Diamondbacks (22-23)

Where: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona

When: 6:40 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM

The Mariners played some dreadful baseball this weekend, getting swept by the Padres, and now have to face a Chicago White Sox team they just dropped a series to. My vibes, please, they are very sick.

Lineups:

Get called up, get to be in the lineup graphic.

News:

You’ve probably already seen the news about the Mariners calling up their top prospect Colt Emerson, but the team also made a slew of roster moves today, most notably optioning Leo Rivas to Tacoma and swapping him with infielder Patrick Wisdom. They also swapped a righty reliever in Domingo Gonzalez for a lefty, Robinson Ortiz. Finally, the Mariners added Brennan Davis to the 40-man roster. Davis had a clause in his contract where he was able to opt out if the Mariners didn’t put him on their 40-man by this weekend and sign with a different organization that would, but the Mariners wanted to keep the right-handed hitting outfielder in the organization.

Read more here.

As another note, today Dan Wilson confirmed that the Mariners will indeed be using a “piggyback start” with Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo. Miller will start, and Castillo will come in from the bullpen.

Today’s game information:

Game time: 6:40 PT

TV: Mariners.TV, with Aaron Goldsmith and Angie Mentink, with Ryan Rowland-Smith as field analyst (and Brad Adam is at least in the building. Vibes restored.)

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports, with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.

I am a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan (now in my sixth decade, thank you very much), but I’m also a baseball fan. Thanks to the massive overhaul that President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom successfully kicked off during the offseason, there are many former St. Louis Cardinals on new teams and several of them have found renewed success. The baseball fan that I am makes me want to keep up with these guys as they move forward with their careers.

A quick disclaimer: I don’t want to be like a creepy ex who just can’t stop thinking about their former partner. I briefly did a check in on most of these players very early in the season and this is my last planned revisit to see how they’re doing. I mean this to be my “fare thee well” former St. Louis Cardinals check-in finale.

Nolan Arenado – Arizona Diamondbacks

Nolan Arenado has not suddenly become the 2022 version of himself that was third place in the MVP voting. However, he’s trending back to the positive offensive contributor that he still believes he can be. Here’s his 2026 stat line as of today:

Batting Average (AVG): .273
Home Runs (HR): 6
Runs Batted In (RBI): 21
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS): .801
Games Played (G): 43

Nolan got off to a very slow start in Arizona as he was under the .200 mark for the first couple weeks of the season, but he reportedly made a pre-game adjustment to his routine and is now enjoying a mini-career renaissance. Over his last 100 plate appearances, he hit 6 home runs and posted a formidable .998 OPS. Nice. His defense has gone from being elite to just barely above average.

Willson Contreras – Boston Red Sox

Willson Contreras is his usual fiery self in Boston and his offensive numbers have been decent for the Red Sox. Here’s his 2026 stat line as of today:

Batting Average (AVG): .253
On-Base Percentage (OBP): .362
Slugging Percentage (SLG): .468
On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS): .830
Home Runs (HR): 9
Runs Batted In (RBI): 25

Willson’s first base defense now ranks among the 98th percentile which has been a big boost for a Red Sox team that badly needs it. Unfortunately, Willson took a 94 mph fastball to the hand in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Red Sox are hoping he’ll avoid the injured list since the x-rays came back negative.

Brendan Donovan – Seattle Mariners

Brendan Donovan got off to a spectacular start in Seattle. Unfortunately, he’s been dealing with injuries that have limited his playing time for the Mariners. Here’s his current stat line:

Games: 25
Home Runs: 3
RBI: 8
Batting Average (AVG): .274
On-Base Percentage (OBP): .386
Slugging Percentage (SLG): .452
OPS: .839

A few days ago, Brendan went back to the IL with a groin strain just 10 days after he was activated from a previous IL stint. He’s been the Brendan Donovan we enjoyed in St. Louis…when he’s healthy which has not consistently been the case so far in 2026.

Sonny Gray – Boston Red Sox

After a poor Spring Training, Sonny Gray is off to a solid start for the Boston Red Sox. Here’s his stat line for the 2026 season so far:

Record: 4-1
ERA: 3.18
Innings Pitched (IP): 34.0
Strikeouts (SO): 21
WHIP: 1.15

There’s good news and bad news for Sonny if you look at the recent numbers. He threw 5 scoreless innings against Kansas City with 8 strikeouts and prior to that tossed 6 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies only allowing 1 run. The advanced metrics seem to reveal that Sonny has benefitted from favorable luck and strong defensive support. Considering the fact that the Red Sox are currently in the cellar of the American League East, they’ll need the best version of Sonny they can get, luck or not.

Ryan Helsley – Baltimore Orioles

If you’d like to look at Ryan’s situation as a glass-half-full type of thing, Helsley’s time with the Orioles has been much better than the second half of last season with the New York Mets. Ryan’s stat line as of today is a 2.53 ERA, 0-2 win-loss record, and 7 saves in 12 appearances. Ryan has had an injury setback which landed him on the IL on May 1, but the word is he’s started playing catch and is making progress toward getting back in the Oriole’s bullpen.

Harrison Bader – San Francisco Giants

Harrison’s bats did not successfully make the trip with him to the Bay area as his current 2026 stat line is .147 with 3 home runs, 5 RBIs, and an OPS of .478. The good news is Harrison had a strong game yesterday against the Athletics as he belted a home run. In fact, he may be trending up as 3 of his 4 home runs this season have come since May 12.

Miles Mikolas – Washington Nationals

How is Miles Mikolas faring with the Washington Nationals? The numbers show that Miles has seen better days:

Games Started: 6 (total of 9 appearances)
WHIP: 1.49
Strikeouts (K): 28
Innings Pitched (IP): 41.2

Miles has a 1-3 record with a 6.91 ERA and 28 strikeouts. His role has shifted to being an innings eater in the games he hasn’t started. I’ve seen reports that there’s been an increase to his fastball velocity recently. He tossed a season-high 5.2 innings of relief against the Baltimore Orioles about a week ago.

Andre Granillo – Washington Nationals

I decided to include Andre in this roundup although few of us Cardinals fans ever really got to know him to compare how that George Soriano trade worked out. Here are Andre’s stats for Washington so far. He has a 0-0 record with a 9.64 ERA across 8 relief appearances and has recorded 3 strikeouts, allowed 9 hits, and has a 2.25 WHIP. When you compare that to George Soriano’s 1-0 record and a 3.66 ERA across 19.2 innings pitched and a WHIP of 1.27, feeling pretty good about one of Chaim’s smaller offseason moves.

I look at many of these former St. Louis Cardinals having good fresh starts with their new teams as a win-win. The Cardinals have been able to kick the youth movement into high gear and many of the players we cheered for while wearing birds on the bat have themselves in good career situations moving forward. I wish them all well except when they’re playing us.

Major League Baseball's new Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) System apparently is still working through some glitches.

Technological confusion reigned during the second inning of the Milwaukee Brewers-Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field on Monday, May 18.

In the bottom of the second inning, Brewers catcher William Contreras challenged a ball call on a pitch to Cubs designated hitter Michael Conforto from starting pitcher Brandon Sproat. Viewers on television saw the familiar ABS graphic confirming that the Brewers' challenge was successful. However, inside Wrigley Field, the ABS system appeared to freeze on the "MLB ABS" logo. Due to the in-stadium system malfunction, the pitch was ruled a ball and the Brewers retained their challenge.

Conforto struck out swinging as the Cubs went down 1-2-3 in a scoreless second inning.

ABS confirmed in #Brewers at #Cubs (Bot 2).
Milwaukee Brewers challenged the ball call on Brandon Sproat's pitch to Michael Conforto.
Ball confirmed.
HP: Derek Thomas | Upheld 76.3% (29/38).
Later: Michael Conforto strikes out swinging. pic.twitter.com/PtTX0ebIMa

— ABS Auditor (@ABS_Auditor) May 19, 2026

The ABS lapse meant little to the competitive phase of the game. The Brewers cruised to a 9-3 win, thanks to home runs by Christian Yelich — his second in as many days — and Jake Bauers.

Los Angeles Dodgers (29-18) at San Diego Padres (28-18), May 18, 2026, 6:40 p.m. PST

Watch: Padres.TV

Location: Petco Park – San Diego, Calif.

Listen: 97.3 The Fan

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Coming off a disappointing home stand in which the Athletics lost series against the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants, the “Green and Gold” are back on the road, set to begin a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels this evening. Leaving Sacramento may be a good thing as the A’s have played much better on the road than at home so far this season.

The A’s are on a two-game skid heading into today’s series opener against the Angels, who have lost six straight, meaning something has to give. The Angels seem destined to waste another year of future Hall of Famer Mike Trout’s career as their record (16-31) is the worst in MLB. First-year manager Kurt Suzuki, who played catcher for the Athletics from 2007 to 2013, faces a massive challenge to turn the Angels’ season around and prove he deserves another year at the helm.

Right-handed pitcher J.T. Ginn will start for the A’s, looking to continue his stellar recent run of form and get his team off to a strong start on its Southern California road swing. He enters his eighth start of 2026 with a 2-1 record, a 3.12 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 43.1 innings pitched. Ginn has pitched well in his previous two starts, picking up wins in each outing. Tonight, the 26-year-old sinkersballer looks to make it three straight winning starts against an Angels’ offense that ranks near the bottom third of the league in most offensive categories.

The Athletics’ lineup shakes out like this:

A’s manager Mark Kotsay is slightly changing his team’s lineup tonight. Right fielder Carlos Cortes will bat first, hoping to get on base to set the table for the dynamic duo of catcher Shea Langeliers and first baseman Nick Kurtz. Speaking of Kurtz, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year has a chance to extend his league-best on-base streak to an incredible 41 consecutive games. Additionally, he is the only left-handed hitter in MLB history with at least 40 home runs, 40 RBIs and 100 walks in his first 162 career games.

Outfielder Henry Bolte is back in the lineup in place of slumping Lawrence Butler. Third baseman Zack Gelof has been contributing offensively, but his limited defensive experience at the position hurt the A’s badly yesterday. His second defensive error of the game jumpstarted the Giants’ eight run eighth inning that secured their series-clinching victory. Beyond Gelof, the entire A’s defense needs to tighten up in the wake of an error-filled home stand.

These A’s hitters will be facing Angels top-20 prospect Walbert Ureña. The 22-year-old right-hander has not been fazed in his first taste of the Major Leagues. Ureña brings a 1-4 record and a 3.29 ERA into his eighth appearance and sixth start of the season. He has accumulated three straight quality starts, limiting the Cleveland Guardians to two runs on three hits over five innings in his last outing. Ureña has a 70-grade fastball, but poor control, as he has walked 17 batters in his first 27 MLB innings pitched. As a result, A’s hitters must remain patient, work counts, and pounce on any mistakes from Los Angeles’ hard-throwing rookie pitcher.

The Angels’ lineup looks like this:

Josh Lowe and Adam Frazier are the only new faces in the Angels’ lineup this season, joining a largely unchanged core. Even with the lineup scuffling, they are still capable of punishing mistakes. That means Ginn and fellow A’s pitchers cannot afford to miss spots against Trout, shortstop Zach Neto or right fielder Jo Adell.

If the Athletics want to remain in first place in the American League West, they cannot afford to lose games to last-place teams with losing records. The team needs to keep playing like road warriors and take as many games as possible in Anaheim before traveling further south to face Mason Miller and the San Diego Padres in the second leg of this road trip.

Let’s go A’s!

Follow the Game:
Watch:
Athletics – NBCSCA

Listen:
Athletics – Talk 650 KSTE, KVMX 92.1/105.5, A’s Cast

The Dodgers pitching turnover the last two weeks has been quite heavy, continuing Monday with the signing of right-hander Jonathan Hernández to a major league deal ahead of their series against the San Diego Padres.

Hernández had a 4.80 ERA in 13 games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley with 22 strikeouts and five walks in 15 innings before opting out of his minor league contract with the Phillies and was released on Sunday. The 29-year-old has pitched parts of five years in the majors (2019-24) with the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners, with a 4.29 ERA and 4.45 FIP in 127 career games and 153 innings, with 150 strikeouts and 81 walks.

Last year Hernández was on a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays but did not pitch in the majors. He had a 2.25 ERA in 12 games and 12 innings for Triple-A Durham, but missed nearly five months on the minor league injured list.

Chayce McDermott was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room on the active roster for Hernández. McDermott pitched the ninth inning of Sunday’s blowout win after getting called up earlier in the day to replace left-hander Charlie Barnes, who was called up Friday and pitched both days in which he was active.

To make 40-man roster room for Hernández, the Dodgers transferred Ben Casparius to the 60-day injured list. Casparius has been sidelined since April 13 with right shoulder inflammation, and this move ensures his earliest possible return date is June 12.

On the last homestand, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Casparius was on a throwing program at Camelback Ranch in Arizona, but with no real timetable just yet.

“I don’t know when it is, but he’s on a longer timetable,” Roberts said on May 8. “Once he starts facing hitters and goes on a rehab, then it’ll be more of a conversation.”

Hernández has four years, 96 days of major league service time and his out of options, having used minor league options in 2018, 2019, and 2023 while with the Rangers. He will wear uniform number 29 with the Dodgers.