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The Dodgers have shown one thing in their opening three games of the season.

They have no problem erasing early deficits.

For a third-straight night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers found themselves in a two-run hole at the start of the game.

But for a third-straight night, they managed to rally behind strong pitching and timely offense, riding Will Smith’s go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth to a 3-2, sweep-clinching win.

Smith’s big swing almost felt kismet, coming on a night he celebrated both his 31st birthday and a bobblehead giveaway commemorating his game-winning, Game 7 World Series home run last year.

For much of the night, though, it seemed doubtful such late-inning heroics were coming for the Dodgers –– whose star-studded lineup was once again held in check until the end.

Though Tyler Glasnow pitched well in his season debut –– allowing just two runs in six innings, while striking out six batters and retiring 10 of his final 11 –– Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez was better.

In five-plus strong frames, he limited the Dodgers to just a single unearned run; when Freddie Freeman doubled home Kyle Tucker in the sixth following an error to begin the inning.

After that, the Dodgers (3-0) struggled to crack the Dbacks bullpen, making six-straight outs before Mookie Betts drew a walk with two outs in the eighth.

That, however, cracked the door just enough, with Smith sending an elevated 98 mph heater from Juan Morillo sailing out to straightaway center field in the next at-bat.

“You’re going to hear this word a lot: Grinding,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Just really trying to grind at-bats and wait for these guys to make a mistake and not get yourself out. That’s what we did. That’s what we’ll do.”

Added Glasnow: “There is no opponent lead that is safe.”

What it means

The Dodgers aren’t hitting on all cylinders yet. But they’re doing just enough, with several little moments helping swing Saturday’s game.

There was Tucker robbing a home run in front of the short fence down the right-field corner in the sixth; then using his speed to set up Freeman’s RBI double in the sixth by beating out a play at first and stealing second to get into scoring position.

There was Betts’ walk that set the stage for Smith’s winning blast, a four-pitch free pass that erased the frustration of his 0-for-3 night up to then.

And in the end, there was closer Edwin Díaz, emerging for his second save in as many nights to the playing of a live trumpet performance. That completed three spotless innings of work from the bullpen on the night, and ran the group’s scoreless streak to 11 2/3 innings overall to start the season.

Who’s hot

Entering Saturday, Freeman didn’t have a hit yet –– despite nothing but hard-hit balls in his first two games (literally, each one had an exit velocity of at least 90 mph).

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That changed in a hurry, however, with the first baseman singling his first two times up before getting the Dodgers on the board with his sixth-inning RBI double.

That double, which came on a scorching ground ball just inside the third-base line, was the 548th of Freeman’s career, tying him with Alex Rodriguez for 33rd-most all-time.

Alas, the slugger ended the night 3-for-4 after watching another fly ball die at the warning track, already the fifth time that happened this season. Still, he finally has some results to go along with what looks to be an in-sync swing.

Who’s not

It’s only a matter of time before Shohei Ohtani gets going.

But one series in, the four-time MVP has yet to really shine.

Ohtani has been on base plenty, already collecting four walks (including two free passes Saturday) and a hit-by-pitch. However, he hasn’t had a hit since a leadoff single Thursday, and missed multiple chances to help start a rally earlier in Saturday’s game, falling to 0-for-his-last-7 with a double-play in the fifth inning and a groundout to first to lead off the eighth. 

“I think that they’re obviously pitching him very careful, and there’s some pitches that he’s swung at that he’s just missing,” Roberts said. “They were trying to crowd him a lot this series. But I honestly think Shohei’s fine. As long as he’s taking his walks, he’ll slug. He’ll get his slug.”

Up next

Thanks to the strange quirks of MLB’s staggered Opening Week schedule, the Dodgers will get a rare day off on Sunday, before hosting the Cleveland Guardians for a three-game series beginning Monday night. Roki Sasaki will start in that game, trying to reverse the fortunes of his disastrous spring training.

It’s not about how you start it; it’s about how you finish it. Following in the script of Friday’s win, this time with even more drama, the Dodgers waited to take command of the game for the first time in the bottom of the eighth inning. Diamondbacks reliever Juan Morillo came in on the highest possible leverage spot, trying to protect a 2-1 lead with the top of the order up. Morillo retired Shohei Ohtani and Kyle Tucker and appeared in line to survive this gauntlet, but Mookie Betts and Will Smith had other plans. Betts walked on four pitches, and Morillo fed Smith one too many high fastballs until Smith caught the timing of one and knocked it out of the park for a go-ahead two-run bomb.

The birthday boy decided the game felt a tad too cliché, but you won’t hear anyone complaining in the home crowd. Smith, who hit 12 of his 17 home runs last season at Dodger Stadium, already has two in his home park in 2026.

Before the Dodgers could find a way to take the lead in this game, they had to survive for a rather lengthy period despite very little offense, and that went through Tyler Glasnow. For all the control a pitcher has on the mound, his performance and the perception of it can be subject to what those around him will and won’t accomplish. Glasnow delivered, by all accounts, a rather productive game. Through six innings, the Dodgers starter allowed only five baserunners, two of whom came around to score; he struck out eight and walked only one. Glasnow did his part, and still, he most likely left the game with a bitter taste that wasn’t erased until that eighth inning, having trailed from start to finish, only because his offense couldn’t do anything behind him.

Moving to the other half of this pitching match-up, it doesn’t really work that way, but if it did, one might be inclined to argue that Eduardo Rodríguez was due for a good performance at Dodger Stadium—the southpaw had previously known a great struggle when pitching at this ballpark. Rodríguez, who came into this game boasting a 1-3 record in four starts away against the Dodgers, allowing a total of 12 runs in 19 innings, had his best performance at Chavez Ravine.

Kyle Tucker is a terrific player, but Rodríguez sort of showed the blueprint, not that it is a particularly easy one, for left-handers facing this current version of the Dodger lineup. Step one, don’t let Shohei Ohtani beat you—Rodríguez walked him in two out of their three duels—and step two, find a way to take care of business against Tucker. Rodríguez got Tucker the two times he followed an Ohtani walk, and in his third at-bat, the Dodgers’ right fielder reached following an error, thus prompting an end to Rodríguez’s outing. It is the first week of the season, but even with that in mind, Torey Lovullo was quite conservative, removing Rodríguez on 79 pitches after an error allowed Tucker to reach base to lead off the sixth. Sure, the righty-righty matchup against Mookie Betts made sense with Jonathan Loáisiga up next, and Freddie Freeman had been responsible for half of the Dodgers’ four hits up to that point, but Rodríguez had more left in the tank. It turns out that Freeman’s success was about him being Freeman, much more than anything related to Rodríguez. Loáisiga did his job against Betts, but Tucker would eventually score on a Freeman double, his third hit of the game. That run to cut the deficit to 2-1 at the time meant that Smith’s two-run blast could decide the game and not just give the Dodgers new life.

Ultimately, that early hook to Rodríguez meant that the Diamondbacks needed 12 outs from their bullpen to close out this game, and those were a few too many despite all of the Dodgers’ struggles.

While we are on the subject of birthdays, let’s consider Smith’s Homer a special gift to Eric Stephen. True Blue LA’s longtime Managing Editor and fellow birthday boy.

Game particulars

• Home run— Will Smith (2)
• WP— Will Klein (1-0): 1 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout
• LP— Juan Morillo (0-1): 0.2 IP, 1 hit, 2 earned run, 1 walk, 0 strikeouts
• SV— Edwin Diaz (2): 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Up next

It’s a rare off-day at home for the reigning champs, as they don’t return to action until Monday night, when the Cleveland Guardians roll into town. Roki Sasaki will face Parker Messick; start time at 7:10 p.m (PT).

The Detroit Tigers took the field on a lovely night in San Diego, looking to complete a road sweep of the Padres to open the season. It didn’t work out that way, though they continued to keep the Padres offense in check. The Tigers hitters were a little too jumpy against Padres’ pitching, with only a handful of hard hit balls, most of them from Colt Keith, to show for it as they fall to 2-1 on the year.

The Tigers were facing a young-ish starter in right-hander Randy Vasquez. Undistinguished in his short career to date, Vasquez earned a starting role via improved velocity and command in spring camp. He gave the Tigers trouble all night by keeping everything around the zone even when he missed, and the Tigers kept chasing a bit too much.

Kerry Carpenter chased a pair of breaking balls to open the game with a strikeout. Gleyber Torres drew a walk, and Colt Keith roped a double down the right field line. Unfortunately, being slow, Torres couldn’t score on the play, and so it was second and third with one out. Riley Greene grounded one to second and Jake Cronenworth fired home to cut down Torres. Spencer Torkelson put together a patient at-bat, but took a called third on a fastball away that was just off the plate. He failed to challenge despite the reasonably high leverage scenario, and that was that.

Jack Flaherty opened his season with a strong 1-2-3 frame. Cronenworth grounded out to McGonigle, playing shortstop in this one, and Flaherty dialed up 95-96 mph to freeze both Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado on called third strikes.

Kevin McGonigle opened the second inning by also taking a called strike three that was just out of the strike zone. He too decided not to challenge. USE THE CHALLENGES, GUYS! Anyway, Matt Vierling lifted a routine high fly to right, and Gavin Sheets made a nice diving stop to rob Zach McKinstry of a single to send it to the bottom half.

Flaherty popped up Jackson Merrill to open the bottom of the second. Xander Bogearts lined out to Torkelson at first, though there was a missed strike call there that Jake Rogers was probably kicking himself for not challenging. Flaherty showed off several 88-89 mph changeups, continuing a spring trend. He eventually got a soft tapper from Sheets back to him and recorded the out, sending us to the third.

The Tigers went quickly in order, with Jake Rogers and Gleyber Torres striking out swinging on either side of a Carpenter ground out.

Ramon Laureano greeted Flaherty with a drive to the wall in right field. McKinstry, getting a start in right field, went back and made a nice jumping catch on the warning track for the first out of the inning. Flaherty got ahead of Castellanos and got him to ground out to McGonigle for the second out of the third. Freddy Fermin came up with the Padres first hit, lining a single to left, and Cronenworth followed suit, spraying a two-strike fastball that got too much plate for a single to left as well. That brought Tatis Jr. back to the dish, and you don’t love that with two on. A 1-1 slider off the plate was called a strike and then Jack came back with a 1-2 heater that buzzed Tatis Jr.‘s tower to run the count full. Utimately, Tatis anticipated that after coming inside twice, they’d go away, and he got a slider away and lined an RBI single to right field for a 1-0 lead.

Chris Fetter came out for a chat, and Flaherty got ahead in the county, but Tatis broke for second and Gleyber Torres just whiffed on a pretty good throw from Rogers. The ball went into center field, Cronenworth scored, and then Flaherty walked Machado. Merrill lined out to right to end the inning, but it was 2-0 Padres and Flaherty had that bad vibe he gets when he has to pitch out of the stretch a few times and loses his rhythm. He was uncomfortable and his command showed it the rest of his outing.

Colt Keith set the Tigers back to work in the fourth with a leadoff walk. More of this patience, please. Riley Greene took a close strike three call at the top of the zone for the first out. Vasquez was sitting 95-96 mph with sinkers and fourseamers, mixing in his other stuff well. Torkelson got a good pitch to hit and roasted a fastball to the fence in left but not quite high enough. Laureano jumped and hauled it in, and Keith had to retreat to first. McGonigle got a 2-1 breaking ball that hung in the sweep spot down and in, but he jumped it and pulled it foul before grounding out to first on a changeup down to end the top half.

Flaherty’s 60th pitch was a strike to open the bottom of the fourth, and Bogearts grounded the next pitch to Keith at the third. Keith threw a one-hopper but Tork scooped it for the first out. Sheets lined one pretty deep to left, but Riley Greene did Riley Greene things, getting a great jump and laying out in slightly awkward fashion to send Sheets back to the dugout. Laureano got a 1-2 knuckle curve below the zone and flared a single off the bat, but Castellanos lifted a deep fly to left that died at the wall like Torkelson’s for the third out.

The Tigers went in order in the fifth, as Vierling and McKinstry both whiffed at high fastballs and each saw only one strike in the at-bat, and then Rogers flew out to left. Vasquez certainly looked upgraded from his previous seasons, but after some good at-bats early, the Tigers definitely helped him out by failing to take more pitches.

Flaherty by this point wasn’t doing any better a job controlling the zone than his teammates. He went 3-0 to his first two hitters, getting Fermin to pop out to McGonigle, but walking Cronenworth on four pitches. He was over 80 pitches and the hook was brewing as Tatis got to 3-0, and Flaherty yanked another one to walk him. Jake Rogers came out for a mound meeting, but A.J. Hinch didn’t go to the bullpen with Machado up and lefty Brant Hurter ready to enter the game. Machado worked into a 3-2 count and just missed a meatball of a slider right down the middle. Flaherty wasn’t close with another 3-2 slider, issuing his third straight walk, and that was it as Hurter entered for his first appearance of the season with the bases loaded and one out.

Hurter got a quick groundout from Merrill to second base, but it was well placed to avoid the double play and Torres hesitated as Machado hit the brakes right in from of him. He could’ve tagged Machado and maybe gotten the out at first two, but Merrill is quick, and so Torres thought better of it and tossed to second for the out as the run scored. 3-0 Padres. Bogearts smacked a one-hopper to Torres to end the inning. Nice work from Hurter there.

There are three types of Flaherty outing. The ones where he dominates. The ones where he gives up a couple of homers and gets knocked out early, and today’s model, where he’s mostly good but gets rattled out of sync and leaks oil as the lineup turns over the third time.

Vasquez got Carpenter on a deep flyout to center, and then Torres grounded out to open the sixth. Colt Keith lined a single for his second hit of the night, and that left it up to Riley Greene in the sixth. Vasquez looked like he was running out of gas, walking Greene on five pitches to bring up Torkelson with McGonigle looming in the on deck circle. Kid’s already looming, guys. The Padres had a little meet-up at the mound to try and settle their pitcher down for one more hitter. Tork got a good pitch and smoked a one-hopper, but he hit it to Manny Machado for the final out of the inning. Eight strikeouts from Vasquez vs. three walks and two Keith hits allowed, and they really helped him out with most of the punchouts by expanding out of the zone against him.

Hurter tied Sheets into knots with a sinker for a whiff to start the bottom half. Laureano jumped a first pitch sinker for a solid single to right field and Castellanos followed suit. With Fermin coming up Hinch had seen enough of Hurter facing a long stretch of right-handed hitters. Not sure why Drew Anderson or Seabold weren’t up a little earlier in this one anyway against a heavily right-handed hitting team, but it was Seabold entering in a tight spot to make his Tigers debut in the sixth.

Seabold dusted Fermin with a 96 mph heater on the outer edge to start his outing. He then got ahead of Cronenworth 0-2 before fishing a bit to even the count. Cronenworth spoiled a pair of good fastballs, and Seabold tried a cutter and then a changeup that were both fouled off. Seabold nailed the bottom rail with a beaut of a fastball for a called strike three…but Cronenworth wisely challenged and he was correct. So, everyone dug back in with a 3-2 count. Another high fourseamer was fouled off, and Cronenworth was putting together a really good AB. Laureano broke and stole third with Seabold not paying attention, but he managed not to step off for a pitch clock violation and fired a fastball that Cronenworth lined one to McGonigle to end the inning and turn away the threat. Not great, but not a bad first appearance for Mr. Seabold.

So it was 3-0 Padres heading into the seventh, and with Mason Miller lurking in the Padres pen, it was time to get cooking on a comeback.

Lefty Kyle Hart took over in the top of the seventh. McGonigle took a first pitch slider for a strike, but again it was actually just out of the zone. The Tigers know they can’t save up challenges to cash in for prizes later, yes? Either way, Kevin worked his way back into a 3-2 count but then took a slider up and away, just nicking the corner. Finally, the Tigers challenged, and so of course this time they were wrong.

Hart carved up Vierling with some nasty splitters, and so it was up to Jahmai Jones, pinch-hitting against the lefty for Zach McKinstry. He put together a solid AB, but lined out to a sliding Tatis Jr. in right to end the Tigers’ half of the inning.

Seabold punched out Tatis to open the bottom half, with a failed Tatis challenge ended the at-bat. Seabold got ahead of Machado and he grounded out to Torres for the second out. The broadcast discussed Seabold’s higher arm slot with the Blue Jays this spring. His velocity is up a tick, he has a quick arm with a bit of deception perhaps, and he is getting a little more carry on the fourseamer. His changeup is solid. The new slider better but erratic on this night. But, he threw strikes for the most part and the left-handed Merrill flew out to Greene in left to end the inning. We don’t Sea-gold just yet, but a solid effort from the Tigers’ newest reliever.

Hart was still in the game, and he quickly popped out Rogers. Hinch pinch-hit Dillon Dingler for Carpenter, which is interesting, but he flew out to Tatis. Torres waited out Hart into a 3-2 count but whiffed at a cutter, and the Tigers were down to their final three outs.

Seabold stayed out there with his pitch count over 30 pitches in the bottom of the eighth. Bogearts flew out to Vierling. Sheets took a slider up and away for a called strike three, and didn’t challenge it. He would’ve won. Seabold quickly worked ahead of Laureano as well with a pair of well located heaters, but the outfielder battled back and eventually lined a two-out single to right field. That was all for Seabold, but it was a good debut as he collected seven outs in a row with three punchouts before the single ended his night.

Hinch turned to Will Vest to shut this inning down and keep the game close enough for a ninth inning rally with the heart of the lineup due up. Bryce Johnson pinch-ran for Laureano. Castellanos dug into the box, saying hello to old friend Jake Rogers, and then grounded out to Keith, who again got a bad grip and bounced it over to first. Torkelson made another nice scoop, and we were on to the ninth.

It would be a tall task for the Tigers against the flamethrowing Mason Miller. Keith saw a steady diet of sliders and Miller dropped one just on the outer edge for strike three after a worthy challenge from Keith. Greene lifted a slider to left for the second out. Torkelson worked to 2-0, fouled off a high triple digit heater, and then took one away to get to 3-1. Tork fouled off two fastballs and then Miller missed up to walk him. That brought McGonigle to the dish. Miller dropped a pair of sliders in for strikes, and the rookie chased one down to end it.

The Tigers are 2-1 on the year, and they’ll begin their journey back east with a three-game stop in Phoenix to battle the Diamondbacks on Monday through Wednesday.

After the Mets came from behind twice to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night, manager Carlos Mendoza and starterDavid Petersondiscussed the win...

David Peterson's "good first one"

While New York's bats struggled until extra innings, the left-hander did all he could to give the team a chance by keeping the Pirates off the scoreboard.

Peterson tossed 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing just six hits while striking out three and walking two. After the game, he talked about how things went during his first outing of the 2026 season.

"Felt good,” Peterson said. “Felt like our plan was working and Alvy [catcher Francisco Alvarez] and I were on the same page. Things were running pretty smooth. Nice to be able to get ahead of hitters and have the count in our advantage most of the day. Some really good defense behind us. Good first one.”

In addition to battling the Pirates revamped lineup, Peterson and the Mets dealt with cold, windy weather at Citi Field. Luckily, the lefty didn't let the conditions get to him, simply focusing on each pitch throughout the game.

"It didn’t change anything for me," Peterson said. "We had our plan and I was just trying to execute every single pitch, and whatever happened happened. I didn’t take too much into account. Like I said, I was just trying to focus on executing one pitch at a time and going as deep as I could and giving our team a chance to win.”

Manager Carlos Mendoza noted that Peterson is "at his best" when he's forcing opponents to hit ground balls and not letting runners on base rattle him. Peterson forced nine groundouts in the win and, like Mendoza noted, forced a clutch pop-out against Marcell Ozuna with the bases loaded in the top of the fifth inning to keep the game tied at 0-0.

“I thought he was very good," Mendoza said. "When Peterson is getting ground balls, when he’s keeping the ball in the ground, that’s when he’s at his best. He did that today. He was pitch efficient. I thought he mixed well. He attacked, got strike one, got swing and misses. Kept hitters off-balance.

“And then when they created traffic, that’s what makes Petey who he is. When there’s runners on base, his ability to slow the game down, his ability to make pitches when he needs to. Bases loaded there with Ozuna with two outs. Like I said, he’s got that ability to continue to trust himself and continue to execute pitches, and he was able to do that today.”

Bullpen doing their job

After Peterson's day was done against the Pirates, Mendoza turned to six different relief pitchers in the 11-inning win.

Huascar Brazobán, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley, and Devin Williams all kept the score 0-0 through the ninth inning to force extras. Luis García allowed one unearned run in the 10th and Richard Lovelady allowed another unearned run in the 11th inning, giving the Mets offense the chance they needed in the bottom of the inning, down 2-1.

“Can you name everyone that pitched today?” Peterson said with a laugh. “I mean we used everybody. The bullpen did an incredible job, every guy was ready for the task. Came in and did their job. Just an overall amazing performance on both sides of the ball.

"Really proud of those guys in the bullpen, just one after another coming in and getting their outs, keeping us in the game, and giving us a chance to win."

More defensive reps for Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette

It's been talked about all winter and spring training that having two players with little-to-no experience at their position will be a risk for the Mets. Those defensive concerns were on display Saturday night, as both first baseman Jorge Polanco and third baseman Bo Bichette had some struggles at their new positions.

Bichette had a couple of throws run wide on Polanco at first, including one that was ruled an error in the top of the fourth inning. Polanco also dealt with a few tough fielding plays that luckily didn't cost New York.

“Just reps, they got to continue to work,” Mendoza said. “The Polanco ones, especially that error, I think they gave him an error, hard ground ball that came up on him, there’s so much there that you can do. With Bo, we just got to continue to work with him on those routines throws.”

Mendoza was also asked about a play in the top of the 11th inning, when Bryan Reynolds reached first safely on a dribbler down the third base line that somehow stayed fair and allowed the runner from third to score, and if Bichette or Lovelady should've fielded the ball.

“I couldn’t believe that it stayed fair. I don’t think anybody makes that play," Mendoza said. "Off the bat, I thought it was a foul ball. So no, none of them had a chance there."

While none of the miscues cost the Mets the game, they could have easily, and both players will need to continue to work on the little things throughout the year.

Home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor didn’t have his best showing in a game that saw the Cincinnati Reds defeat the Boston Red Sox 6-5 after 11 innings on Saturday, March 28.

Bucknor, 63, has served as an umpire in the major leagues since 1996. He is one of the two longest-tenured active umpires, along with Phil Cuzzi, who has been active since 1991.

Despite Bucknor’s years of experience, he had six calls overturned as a result of MLB’s new Automated Ball-Strike challenge system.

Umpire CB Bucknor hates to see MLB’s new Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) coming.

During the Red Sox’s 6-5, 11-inning loss to the Reds on Saturday in Cincinnati, Bucknor — who has been a member of a major-league umping crew since 1999 — had eight calls challenged, with six of them being overturned.

Two of the overturned calls came on back-to-back pitches, with Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez successfully challenging consecutive strike-three calls in the sixth inning with Boston rookie Ryan Watson on the mound.

CB Bucknor, a member of a major-league umpiring crew since 1999, had eight calls challenged and a whopping six overturned — including this sequence.

@CBoxSportspic.twitter.com/vgmjHAvXde

— The Athletic MLB (@TheAthleticMLB) March 28, 2026

The first pitch was an inside sinker at the knees, and the second being a low and away fastball barely off the plate.

“It was like ‘Oh man, that’s two in a row,’” Watson told reporters following the game, according to The Athletic. “But yeah, just tried to take a deep breath and get back in the zone.”

In Bucknor’s defense, both pitches were close, but the ABS technology ultimately deemed both of them balls.

The Reds’ home crowd at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio, exploded at the two overturned calls.

“That’s probably the loudest I’ve heard a stadium while pitching,” Watson added. “So it was intense, for sure.”

Bucknor reached the spotlight again in the eighth inning after he called out Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story on a check swing, but the team was unable to ask for a review.

With the Red Sox down one and having a chance to break open the game, Story raged at Bucknor for the controversial call, having to be held back by Boston skipper Alex Cora and third base coach Jose Flores.

Bucknor wound up ejecting Cora after the two got into a shouting match.

“He has one job to do, it’s (to) call balls and strikes,” Cora said after Boston’s loss. “It wasn’t his best day. That’s what the system does. It’s out there, everybody sees it, and he’ll be the first one to accept it. I saw him putting his head down after one of the challenges.

“And we’re all human. It’s not easy, what we do and what he does.”

The Red Sox would tie the game in the ninth inning with a solo homer from Wilyer Abreu, but ultimately lost on a walk-off single by Reds center fielder Dane Myers in the 11th.

Saturday evening was a time of repetition for Mizzou baseball in the sense that the game began by them digging their own hole. This time, the Tigers just weren’t nearly as close to getting out of it in their 13-4 loss against Texas A&M at Taylor Stadium. 

In Friday’s 11-9 defeat at the hands of the No. 25 ranked Aggies, Jackson’s squad went down by double digits after a Josh McDevitt outing went haywire in the top half of the fourth, as Texas A&M put up a seven slot in the top half of the fourth.

This contest was no different for Missouri (17-11, 1-6 SEC) and it brought some of the similar problems that has plagued Jackson’s squad as of late. Slow starts, runners left on base, 

A&M’s (20-5, 3-4 SEC) bats came out blitzering once again and the pitching arm on the receiving end of the damage tonight was Brady Kehlenbrink. In total, nine earned runs, four walks and a home run were allowed by the starter and it was a rocky outing from the jump.

After Gravin Grahovac walked Jake Duer yanked a ball down the left‑field line for an RBI single, with Chris Hacopian hustling to third. A couple pitches later, Nico Partida chopped one to third and Hacopian scored on the fielder’s choice, so Missouri was down two before it even got to the plate.

Mizzou’s bats answered in the second, albeit in the fashion of a small ball. A single by Blaize Ward, was followed by a bunt attempt by Donovan Jordan which got him on base. Mateo Serna then laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Ward to third and Keegan Knutson’s infield single that scored Ward.

The turning point came fast. Missouri trailed just 2–1 entering the third, but the inning unraveled almost immediately. Jake Duer doubled home a run, two bases‑loaded walks followed, and a sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 6–1. Then came the swing that broke the game open: Gavin Grahovac turned on an 0–2 pitch and launched it 405 feet to center for a three‑run homer. Suddenly it was 9–1, and Missouri was staring at another long night.

Head coach Kerrick Jackson didn’t hide from the reality afterward. Both starters, Josh McDevitt and Brady Kehlenbrink were pitching on short rest after heavy workloads the previous week, a situation created by an injury to starter Javyn Pimental, added on by two midweek games against Illinois and Lindenwood.

“They just weren’t able to bounce back,” Jackson said. “Both of them had high double‑digit pitch counts in the first inning. That makes everything harder.”

Missouri did what it could to respond after  Keegan Knutson singled in a run in the second and added a sacrifice fly in the fourth. Kam Durnin followed with a two‑run double to left‑center, trimming the deficit to 11–4 in the bottom half of the fourth to give Tigers a brief spark. 

Throughout, every time Missouri made a push, A&M answered with another punch. Nico Partida homered on a two-run shot in the fourth, Grahovac hit his own two-run shot, his second, again in the fifth, and Partida added his second homer in the eighth.

The Tigers offense found spots of action throughout, one hitter in particular Donovan Jordan turned in the best performance of his season, going 3‑for‑3 with a solo homer in the eighth, the first of his Tigers career.

Kam Durnin drove in three runs, including his RBI double. The Tigers finished with 11 hits and created the run scoring opportunities throughout the night, stranding nine runners on base creates the margins that are tougher to overcome in the high level that is SEC baseball. 

“Our guys get sped up,” Jackson said. “They want so badly to get it done that they get out of themselves. The situation shouldn’t change who you are. Just do your job. Learning how to win is different and our guys are learning.”

The sweep is what the Tigers will be looking to avoid on Sunday and the starting pitcher is still to be determined, as JD Dohrmann is currently a game time decision and his availability is something that the Tigers are still looking at ahead of the series finale. 

“I’ve got to talk to Kyle (Holland) and see how JD is feeling,” Jackson said. “If he’s not able to go, then we’ll go to plan B.” 

The Tigers after this one were left with a similar lesson after Auburn, the SEC doesn’t and won’t forgive the long winded innings, the 11 walks, the four hit by pitches. What’s given is what’s taken and that’s a lesson that comes with time, not overnight in this league.