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Some days you’re the windshield and some days you’re the bug. The next day after putting a big number up against Boston, the Orioles were on the receiving end of an ugly beatdown. By the time the dust settled, the O’s fell back below .500 with a 17-1 demolition at the hands of their last place division rivals. So much for the idea of building on that momentum. The Orioles remain winless against left-handed starting pitchers in the 2026 season.

The two teams traded zeroes in the first inning before things veered off the rails for the Orioles in the second. Starting pitcher Trevor Rogers, last year’s incredible revelation, continued to look like he’s not going to be able to repeat that form or anything close to it. Rogers simply could not make good pitches to consistently put people away once he got them to two strikes, and the result was that he saw his pitch count balloon in a second inning that he was not able to complete.

Rogers got the hook with the bases loaded and two outs in the second inning, having already allowed three runs on four hits and two walks. Only Tyler Wells coming in and stranding all of the inherited runners kept Rogers from taking an even rougher hit to his ERA. As it is, he’s up to 4.75 on the season with this clunker added to his last outing. It’s not what the Orioles needed today or what they need over the remainder of the season. This is a challenge that they are going to have to work hard to solve.

Still, the game remained in reach until the top of the fifth inning. The Orioles “only” trailed 4-0 up to that point. Reliever Albert Suárez, who was already charged with an unearned run in the fourth, was victimized again by his defense in the fifth. A throwing error by Jeremiah Jackson eventually resulted in three unearned runs crossing the plate in the inning and the Orioles were then behind by seven runs.

Suárez, who had not pitched in six days, could have helped more to pitch his way out of this jam, but the scoring is what it is. This was one of three errors committed by the Orioles in an overall uninspiring game.

The offense was just as uninspiring. They faced a tough task, if you are in the mood to be fair to them. The Red Sox starter was last year’s AL Cy Young runner-up, Garrett Crochet. Although Crochet has had a couple of rough outings early this season, he’s had a couple of very good ones too. At least on Saturday against the Orioles, it looked like he’d fixed his problems. Crochet allowed just three hits and two walks over his six shutout innings. The lone O’s run scored was also unearned; an error committed by Caleb Durbin put the unearned run on the stat line for reliever Greg Weissert.

What really made it embarrassing for the Orioles was Keegan Akin, fresh off the injured list to pitch in his first outing of the season. Akin, again if you are in the mood to be fair, did pitch one scoreless inning after coming into the game in the eighth inning. The problem was he was tasked with pitching the ninth as well, and, uh, he was not up to that task. By which I mean he gave up six runs in the ninth inning before the O’s turned to position player Weston Wilson to pitch. That’s a 54.00 ERA for Akin’s 2026. He’s going to have to put up a lot of zeroes to make up for that.

There was a time where position players pitching was fun. That time has largely passed. The only thing we can say for Wilson is he gave up fewer runs than Akin, allowing four to score while managing to get three outs and end the thing. Wilson had pitched a few previous times in his career and brought a 0.00 ERA into this contest. That perfection has been wrecked.

The teams will play one more on Sunday afternoon with a 1:35 scheduled start time to settle who is the winner of this three-game set. Kyle Bradish is set to make the start for the Orioles. The O’s hitters will have another chance to try to solve a lefty starter, with rookie Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early on the mound. The 24-year-old brings a 2.88 ERA through five games into the outing. He has to feel pretty good about his chances, given what he saw these dudes do against Crochet today.

First Pitch: 3:10 pm CDT
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN / WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / Audacy

The Minnesota Twins. Ever heard of em?

An early start to the season means that it can be game 27 and still only be April. We’re at the point of the season where the oft-cited “small sample size” begins to stretch itself out a bit, meaning that within the next couple of weeks we’ll have a better sense of flukes vs. trends, like whether or not Austin Martin has actually figured out how to become one of the premier hitters in the game.

One of the biggest questions that will be answered with a larger sample is just what kind of team the 2026 Minnesota Twins are. After absolutely mowing down the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox in a riveting home stretch, the Twins lost seven out of their last eight, including the opener on Friday night.

Bailey Ober has managed to run a 106 ERA+ in five starts so far, despite operating on some godforsaken combination of duct tape and good will. Ober has potentially the lowest velocity manageable in the Big 26, which has led to his changeup outpacing his fastball as his primary pitch, even as the rest of his offerings remain in line with their usage proportions from years prior.

Plus, after catastrophically-low run values from his breaking arsenal last year, Ober’s breaking run value is 94th percentile here in April. Reinventing himself in real-time as a quasi-junkballer, Bailey’s high-wire act has led to team victories in three of his first five starts, and he’s coming off a wonderful outing last weekend during which he held the Cincinnati Reds to three hits and struck out double-digit batters. (Don’t ask what happened after he left.)

On the slibbity-gibbity hippity flip-side is Shane McClanahan, who’s returning to game action this year after not having thrown a pitch since 2023. It’s been a ginger return for the brunette lefty, who has maxed out at 90 pitches in four starts, never going more than five innings and mostly struggling with control (11 walks in 18 innings.)

GO TWINS GO!

It was rough going for a moment there.

The San Diego Padres bounced back late for a 10-8 win over the Colorado Rockies Thursday afternoon. In what felt like a gruelingly long game, the Friars continued to stay within striking distance but couldn’t seem to get ahead of the Rox.

They finally did with three outs left. Rockies reliever Victor Vodnik struggled to record an out, walking Jackson Merrill to start the ninth before giving up three consecutive singles and a three-run blast from Gavin Sheets that just stayed fair.

It was a win the Friars needed. One that proved their bats are still alive after a week of them being peculiarly quiet. They’ll need that slug this weekend as they face the Arizona Diamondbacks in Mexico City tonight.

Taking the mound

Zac Gallen (AZ) v. Germán Márquez (SD)

It was probably never that close, but it felt like Gallen was close to being a Padre this offseason.

After being the subject of a prolonged free agency, he ended up re-signing with Arizona on a one-year deal. He’s pitched serviceably to start the year but has struggled with command (3.51 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 25.2 IP).

In the high-altitude, hitter-friendly environs of Mexico City — a stadium that last saw the Padres face the San Francisco Giants in an 11-homer tirade — Gallen will need to have his command locked down. Otherwise, it’ll quickly turn into a slugfest for San Diego.

The same is true for Márquez, though his statline suggests a worse pitcher than he has been. He’s yet to record consecutive quality outings, going back-and-forth between giving up four runs and pitching a scoreless game.

That’s been the problem for Márquez so far this year: consistency. When he’s on, he’s on. But when he’s not? He’s really not.

He pitched 5 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels last week and only allowed two hits. The Friar Faithful hope that he can follow that performance tonight against the D-backs.

Batter up!

The starters will be out with the off day yesterday giving everyone a breather. That has the lineup looking like this:

1. Ramón Laureano, LF
2. Fernando Tatis Jr., RF
3. Jackson Merrill, CF
4. Manny Machado, 3B
5. Xander Bogaerts, SS
6. Gavin Sheets, 1B
7. Ty France, DH
8. Luis Campusano, C
9. Jake Cronenworth, 2B

Gallen is a tough starter to face, but the Padres have one thing over him: they’ve faced him a lot.

That being said, certain players have had more success than others. Bogaerts, Cronenworth, France and Gavin Sheets all have a batting average over .300 against him. France, Sheets and Fernando Tatis Jr. have an OPS over 1.000 when facing the right-hander.

Those career numbers are why France might start at DH today, though Miguel Andujar could as well after his bat heated up in Colorado.

Those are names to watch for, with Cronenworth having an especially slow start to the year at the plate. He’ll look to get things going today against Gallen.

Relief corps

Starter Matt Waldron did not do much to help his case for a roster spot, giving up six runs in Thursday’s series finale against Colorado. (The signing of free agent Lucas Giolito could not have come soon enough.) But he did go five full innings, so the bullpen can at least be thankful for that.

The Padres used Adrian Morejon, Ron Marinaccio and Mason Miller to cover the final four frames. Miller extended his scoreless streak to tie the franchise record at 33 2/3. He’ll look to extend it against Arizona this weekend.

But, with the off day yesterday, it’ll likely be all-hands-on-deck for the Friars. That being said, the first out of the ‘pen would be those who didn’t pitch on Thursday. That leaves Jason Adam, Kyle Hart, David Morgan, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez.

If Márquez falters, then expect Hart or Peralta out first to cover multiple innings. But if San Diego has a lead and Márquez makes it through five or six frames, the high-leverage guys will be out in full force.

So there was a bit of Jays news today, check out the posts, but the short of it:

• Nathan Lukes to IL.
• Yohendrick Piñango called up.
• Yimi Garcia to the 60-day IL.
• Trey Yesavage to start Tuesday.
• Eric Lauer to the bullpen.

I feel bad for Lukes, battling through vertigo, finally starting to hit the way we’d expect and then this. That’s the thing about the game, we don’t know what the players are going through at anytime. Sometimes there is a reason they aren’t performing the way we expect.

And it looks like Bo Bichette is starting to get things going for the Mets. He has 6 hits in his last 5 games.

I often say that the start of the season is the worst time for a slump because no one will notice when you turn things around.

And if you start hot, no one will notice when you slump.

I try to tell myself to stay patient, that a guy like Lukes, we know what we have, if he has 50 poor at bats at the start of the year, don’t panic, he’ll likely have the numbers you’d expect at the end of the year.

We get a Kevin Gausman start. He has a 2.54 ERA, in his first five starts. It would be nice if the team could get him some runs today.

Go Jays Go.

This year’s Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are a team that keeps battling until the final out, and it is quickly becoming their M.O. Seven of their 13 wins through the first 24 games have occurred when the club was trailing at some point in the contest.

There was April 4th in Rochester, when seventh-inning solo shots by Seth Brown and Paul DeJong overcame a one-run deficit for a 4-3 victory. The next day, the RailRiders trailed after one inning, 2-1, but scored in the next four innings and rolled to a 16-5 win.

In the home opener on April 8th against Durham, the RailRiders erased a six-run deficit in their final three at-bats to pull out a 7-6 triumph. The next day, they trailed Durham by one run after five innings, took the lead, watched the Bulls tie it in the top of the ninth, but won it in the bottom of the ninth on an Ali Sánchez home run, 5-4. Two days after that, in the nightcap of a doubleheader, they were down to the Bulls, 2-0, but used a six-run fourth inning to storm back for a 9-5 win.

“With these guys, I always know that when games are close, they grind really well,” said manager Shelley Duncan.

“I like to say they’re gritty. They’re grinders, and when it’s close at the end of a ball game, it’s hard to beat grinders.”

Also, the RailRiders are 3-0 in extra innings, including consecutive wins in the current home series with the Rochester Red Wings at PNC Field.

First, on Thursday, the RailRiders took a 4-2 lead into the top of the ninth, only to have Rochester score three runs on five consecutive hits to grab a 5-4 lead. But the RailRiders tied it in the bottom of the ninth on singles by Jonathan Ornelas and Max Schuemann, followed by an RBI groundout from Spencer Jones. Then in the bottom of the 11th, Jasson Domínguez won it with a RBI single to score the automatic runner Ornelas, 6-5.

On Friday, Red Wings starting pitcher Andry Lara had the RailRiders stymied. All they could manage against the right-hander through the first seven innings were a pair of Yanquiel Fernández singles as he walked none and struck out nine. Rochester built a 2-0 lead on two solo home runs, but the bullpen held it there.

“My main thought was keep it close,” Duncan said. “Down two, if we could just scrap one run across the board to get within one. Two runs is a lot harder than one.”

In the bottom of the eighth, with Lara out of the game, the RailRiders rallied. Brown drew a leadoff walk. Duke Ellis came on as a pinch-runner and immediately stole second. Ernesto Martínez Jr. then sent a 3-2 pitch out to right field for a game-tying home run.

“I was manifesting it. I was like, I’m hitting a home run right now. It’s going out,” Martínez said. “I was late on a couple of pitches and I was like, ‘OK, if I’m early I’m going to hit one out.

“We always believe and always have faith in our pitchers. They work really hard and are dedicated to their craft. If they have a bad inning, you know they’re going to come back. We trust our guys.”

Neither team scored in the ninth inning and the game headed to extra innings. Rochester scored a run in the top of the 10th and had runners at the corners with one out. But Harrison Cohen came on and struck out the next two Red Wings to keep it a 3-2 game.

With Oswaldo Cabrera at second base as the automatic runner in the bottom of the 10th, Ellis laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached safely when Rochester’s first baseman, Abimelec Orti,z was called for obstruction as Cabrera moved to third. Again, Ellis broke for second on a stolen-base attempt and when the pitch was wild, Cabrera scored the tying run and Ellis kept going and raced to third.

Martinez followed by lining a 2-2 pitch into right field to score Ellis with the game-winning run.

“Ernesto had two strikes early, took a deep breath and had an unbelievable at-bat,” Duncan said. “It was awesome seeing these guys stay in the game even though it looked very bleak in the beginning. You have to credit the pitching for keeping us close.”

Wins like these, Martínez said, show the character the RailRiders have and can give them some momentum to get on a roll.

“We’ve been a little bit up and down for the start of the season,” said Martínez. “We have expectations of being the best team in Triple-A, so for us it means a lot. Our spirit is not gone. We’re still going to try to win the first half.”

Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe continued his rehab stint with the RailRiders in Friday’s game and played nine innings for the first time. Batting leadoff, he went 0-for-4 with a flyout, two strikeouts, and a groundout. Defensively, he handled three chances and had two assists.

“That was the best I’ve seen him at short,” Duncan said. “He looked really good.”

The plan is for Volpe to again play nine innings Saturday and then likely serve as DH in Sunday’s series finale. What comes after that? Well, Yankees manager Aaron Boone didn’t anticipate a return in time for New York’s series against the Rangers, though he did make those remarks before Giancarlo Stanton left Friday night’s game in Houston early. Unless the DH’s calf strain forces an IL stint that accelerates the timeline, the most logical outcome would be Volpe remaining with Scranton since they have another home series coming up this week against Buffalo, beginning Tuesday. Stay tuned.