How about the Joey Wiemer led Washington Nationals! The Nats secured a series win in Chicago thanks to the efforts of a new cult hero. Joey Wiemer got on base four times again, and has yet to get out this season. The Nats have now won their first season opening series since 2018.

After yesterday’s sloppy and lopsided loss, I would not blame you if you were pessimistic about the Nats chances today. The homer prone Jake Irvin pitching in Wrigley while the wind was blowing out also felt like an ominous sign. However, the Nats showed up and Irvin looked very good.

Irvin was a victim of the wind when he gave up back to back homers in the fourth. Outside of that, the Nats big righty was in command. His four seam fastball velocity was up over a tick from where it was last year and that paid off for him. Irvin got four whiffs on ten swings against the four seamer and hitters had trouble reacting to the pitch.

He got into a lot of deep counts, which meant he threw 93 pitches through five innings. However, the righty did his job and looked very sharp. Last season, Irvin only struck out 6.20 batters per nine innings, but today he fanned seven in five frames. The long ball will always be an issue for him, but his stuff looks more in line with how it did in 2024.

The Nats bullpen was also very good today. PJ Poulin, Gus Varland, Cionel Perez and Clayton Beeter combined to only allow one run in four innings. Varland was the best of the bunch today, showing off a dynamic fastball. The Nats may not have big names in the bullpen, but I think the unit will be better than expected.

However, I think we may be burying the lede here a little bit. The star of the show this afternoon was Joey Wiemer. He has already made himself into a bit of a cult hero in just two games. The 27 year old is 6-6 with two walks. He has yet to make an out this season and is just totally locked in. Wiemer started the party this afternoon with a 3-run homer in the top of the first off a Shota Imanaga splitter.

The athletic outfielder was not done though. He finished the day just a double shy of the cycle. Wiemer was one batter away from getting the chance to hit for that cycle. If only Victor Estevez did not wave Luis Garcia Jr. in the top of the ninth.

Joey Wiemer has been one of the stories of baseball through the first few days of the season. Right now, he is the front runner for NL MVP. Seriously though, this guy is taking amazing at bats. I know the plan has been to play him only against lefties, but with the way he is hitting, you need to get his bat in the lineup every day until he cools off.

Wiemer was not the only Nat to hit a big home run though. Keibert Ruiz’s game got off to a rough start with a pop up in a bases loaded situation and a throwing error. However, he redeemed himself late in the ball game. Ruiz hit a sac fly in the sixth and gave the Nats more insurance in the 8th with a big home run.

That was Ruiz’s first home run since March of 2025. Ruiz has shown flashes with the bat in the past, but has never put it all together yet. This is likely to be his last chance to prove himself as a starting catcher. If Ruiz can hit like he did today, that would go a long way.

Overall, this was a super fun start to the season. The Nats bats have been lively to start the season after a rough spring. They have been led by unexpected heroes, but there are a lot of hitters seeing it well right now. Brady House and Daylen Lile are two other guys who were in the middle of the action for the Nats today.

The boys head to Philly where they will face off against a familiar foe. Will this be a flash in the pan or can the Nats keep the momentum rolling against the Phillies? Foster Griffin will be making his Nats debut tomorrow and hopefully he can keep the good times rolling. It is so much fun to have baseball back, especially with the Nats winning and looking like a fun group.

The season is finally underway and it’s always fun to talk about a winning series to get things going, right? It certainly beats the stuffing out of the way last season started, right? Anyways, it was truly exciting to be in the building for Opening Night on Friday and it was even more encouraging to see this team pick up a strong series win right out of the gate against a Royals team that does have some real aspirations of making the Postseason heading into this season.

So how did everything go down? It’s time to dive into the first series recap of the season, so join me on this quick journey!

Friday, March 27

Braves 6, Royals 0

This was about as good of a start to the season as you could ask for as the Braves delivered a complete team victory to get their season off to a winning start. Chris Sale pitched six scoreless innings in this one and even if he wasn’t at his dominant best in this one, it also helped considerably to have some lights-out defense being played behind him. Dylan Lee, Robert Suarez and Tyler Kinley each entered following Sale’s exit and they each clamped down on the Royals in order to make this a shutout win for Atlanta.

Ozzie Albies became the first Braves player to hit a home run during the regular season for the third season in a row and this time, his solo shot that he pulled just barely fair around the left-field foul pole got the Braves out ahead early in the first inning. Ozzie’s dinger was the first of three on the night for the Braves, as Drake Baldwin added a solo shot of his own in the third inning and then Michael Harris II doubled the lead with a two-run shot that made it 4-0 Braves.

Mauricio Dubón then made sure that his debut with the Braves was a successful one as he delivered a two-RBI double in the eighth inning to make it 6-0 and officially put the Braves into cruising territory. As I mentioned earlier, Atlanta was truly firing on all cylinders in this one — the bats were potent, the pitching was reliable, the defense was on point and the base running was effective and aggressive. A truly ideal game of baseball was played by this ball club on Friday night.

Saturday, March 28

Braves 6, Royals 2

This was less ideal but it was certainly more dramatic. The Braves were unable to crack the code that Michael Wacha was offering them in this one, as Wacha ended up going for six scoreless innings while striking out seven Atlanta batters. The good news was that Reynaldo López was going pitch-for-pitch with him and it also turned out that the mechanical issues that plagued López during his final start of spring training appeared to have been fixed and he looked more like his normal self in this outing. López also pitched six strong innings as this one turned into a pitchers’ duel.

Unfortunately, López ended up getting the short end of the stick when it came to the duel, as he ended up giving up a homer to Salvador Perez in the seventh inning in order to break the deadlock. That was the last batter that López faced and things didn’t get a lot better for the Braves in the next inning as Joel Payamps ended up conceding a run to make it 2-0 Royals at that late point in the contest. The game went into the bottom of the ninth inning with that same 2-0 score and that’s when we got our first sign of high leverage magic from the Braves this season.

Before Royals closer Carlos Estévez threw his first pitch, FOX ran two graphics: One that stated that Estévez led all of MLB in saves last season and another that stated that the Royals were 73-0 in 2025 in games where they led after eight innings. I had a strange feeling that the commentator’s curse (Well, the Chyron graphics’ curse) was on and sure enough, Estévez walked Baldwin to lead off the ninth. Matt Olson put runners on the corners with his single and then Mike Yastrzemski marked his Braves debut with an one-out RBI single that cut the deficit to just one. Michael Harris II made it a tie game after he smacked one off of Estévez’s foot. The save was officially blown and now it was time for some magic.

Dominic Smith was also making his Braves debut in this game and with plenty of inspiration guiding him, he took advantage of a full count pitch that crossed the plate right in his sweet spot. Smith sent the ball flying into the Chop House for a walk-off grand slam that sent Truist Park into a complete and total delirium.

Sunday, March 29

Royals 4, Braves 1

With the series in hand, Grant Holmes got the ball to start this one hoping to make it three great starts in a row for the already injury-beleaguered Braves rotation. While Holmes wasn’t horrible, this was definitely the weakest start of the three Opening Series starts for the Braves, as the Royals tacked on one run in the third, fourth, and fifth innings in order to have a somewhat comfortable cushion heading into the later portion of the game.

It didn’t help matters that the Braves had some really bad luck in this one as far as xBA is concerned. Atlanta had the five hardest-hit balls of this contest and four of the five longest-hit balls in this game as well. They also finished with an xBA of .314 to KC’s .196 in this game as well. Usually that results in a win but instead, those long, hard-hit fly balls from the Braves ended up finding gloves instead of the seats while the Royals were able to dink-and-dunk their way into a comfortable lead.

Seth Lugo ended up tossing 6.1 shutout innings in this one and then the Kansas City bullpen came in and did an effective job. An eighth-inning Drake Baldwin home run off of John Schreiber made sure that the Braves didn’t end up getting shut out on a day when they were hitting the ball really well but that was all of the substantial offense that Atlanta ended up getting in this one. Lucas Erceg got a double play ball to wipe out a one-out single from Yaz that could’ve been the start of another magical ninth inning for the Braves. Instead, the dream of 162-0 died in the third game of the season for Atlanta.

It also has to be noted that Didier Fuentes made his 2026 debut during this game. While he did end up conceding a run, he pitched the final four innings of this one and he looked a whole lot more confident in this outing than he did in his initial big league stint, so there’s that.

While you always want to be greedy and pick up a sweep, the Braves still had a lovely start to the season with this series win. The first game in particular was very encouraging, as that game feels like the proof of concept of sorts when it comes to the style of play that Walt Weiss would like to see. I’d imagine that if the Braves are going to be heading back to the Postseason, they’ll have their fair share of wins that look like what happened on Friday night.

They’ll also have their fair share of losses that look like what happened on Sunday afternoon. Sure, it stunk to see Atlanta drop that one when the underlying stats suggest that they were the better team but I’d definitely prefer to go down like that instead of looking completely and totally feeble at the plate like this team did for long stretches of the 2025 season. While you don’t want to see the Braves drop too many games like that where they had everything going for them except the runs being put on the board, it’s the type of loss that makes you think that this is going to be a very, very tough team to put away on most nights.

Lastly, this might be a nit-pick of sorts but there’s still plenty of improvement to be made in the ABS department when it comes to this team picking and choosing the right time for challenges. We saw on Saturday night that the team actually ran out of challenges in the first inning. I’d imagine that both Drake Baldwin and Ronald Acuña Jr. got a bit of a talking-to when it comes to figuring out the right and proper time to pat the helmet and maybe this’ll be something that will be more of a work-in-progress for the Braves than other teams. For now, there’s plenty of space to improve.

That’s my only real quibble for what was a very good Opening Series for the Braves. They won in comfortable fashion, they won in dramatic fashion and they lost in one of the very few ways that you can find comfort in losing. They’ll have a solid chance to keep things going in the right direction too, as they’ll be staying at home for the next three games while the Athletics will be coming into town all the way from Toronto licking their wounds after starting their season off getting swept by the defending American League champions.

If things are going to keep going in the right direction, the bottom of the rotation is going to have to come up big with Bryce Elder and (maybe) Jose Suarez getting the ball before Chris Sale returns to the mound on Wednesday. Things may be fine if the offense continues to swing the bat like they have to start the season but it’s clear that the pitching will need to continue holding up its end of the bargain if the Braves want to really get rolling to kick off the season. Let’s see what happens, y’all.

The Rays escaped from St. Louis with a win. Although the Rays offensive production was impressive — 11 runs, 17 hits and 4 walks — there was not one minute when this win felt assured.

The Rays started out with the lead.

After having been no-hit for six innings yesterday, the Rays were able to put up three runs in the second inning on a combination of hard hit doubles and singles. Chandler Simpson got the inning going with a single, he was driven in by Johnny DeLuca’s double. DeLuca scored on a passed ball, and then Carson Williams (double) and Yandy Diaz (single) combined for another run.

Steve Matz, one-time Mets and Cardinals pitcher signed this winter as a free agent, got the start for the Rays. He was perfect, and impressive, for the first two innings. In the third, he gave up a smashed double (115 mph) double to Jordan Walker. Walker scored on what was ruled a single with a throwing error, but it was a slightly bloopy softly hit ball that Palacios had trouble handling. He rushed his throw to first and sent it sailing, which allowed Walker to score, making the score 3-1.

The top of the fourth inning seemed to go quietly for the Rays, with two quick outs. But then Hunter Feduccia drew a walk (even after losing a challenge on a called strike), Red Hot Yandy smoked a left field double to drive him home, and Jonathan Aranda decided to make things symmetrical with a double to right field (Yandy scored) and Cedric Mullins said “that looks like fun” and also hit a run-scoring double, to make the score 6-1.

Things fell apart for Matz rather quickly, however, in the bottom of the fourth inning. A walk and a single didn’t seem too problematic, but then, as the pitch count mounted, Matz threw one too many over-the-plate change ups and Walker smacked the last of those into the stand for a three run homer, making the score 6-4. The Cardinals got two men on base once more in the fifth, but thanks to a double play neither runner scored.

This meant, however, that as of the sixth inning we got the Rays Bullpen Adventure. Kevin Kelly came in and promptly gave up a leadoff double. The runner advanced to third on a fly ball to center, and it was fortunate that Cedric Mullins caught that fly ball at all.

Garrett Cleavinger also allowed a hard hit lead off hit in the seventh, although this one held to a single. He then managed to load the bases — no comfortable, quick inning for our guys! — before getting out of the jam.

The Rays were able to score again in the eighth inning, facing rookie (making his major league debut) Matt Pushard. After a single, a walk, and a wild pitch Yandy was able to drive home a run with a bloop single (I guess he got tired of smoking the ball and decided to try some soft contact). Aranda singled home another run. Run number 9 came courtesy of Mullins’ sac fly to center.

Mason Englert came in, then, with the benefit of a five run lead, and did whatever he did to give it back. A solo home run by Nolan Gorman was followed by a single, followed by a two-run homer and we were back to a two-run lead — which we know is not NEARLY big enough.

The Rays offense, having seen what the bullpen can do, added on in the ninth. After a couple of hits put Simpson on third, Carson Williams put down a perfect bunt hit to score him (for the record, I’m largely a “don’t bunt” person but there’s a “speedy guy on third and needing an insurance run” exception.) 10-7.

Yandy went back the the “hit it soft” approach and his “excuse-me” swing ended up acting as a kind of bunt, scoring Williamson and putting leaving him with an infield single.

That meant the Rays had a four run lead and all we needed was a reliever to who could get three outs. Bonus if he could do it without first loading the bases. And in walks Bryan Baker. Three weak contact outs and, miraculously, the game ended with the Rays lead in tact.

As we savor this win, let’s look at the positives. Matz was really good for three innings. I think he can build on that moving forward. Yandy is red hot — five hits and four RBI today. Aranda and DeLuca had multi hit days, and look locked in.

On to Milwaukee for a weekday series.

New beginnings. So much hope, so much promise. The 2026 season is brand-new, and so is Shane Baz’s career as an Oriole. This week the team announced a five-year, $69-million extension for the right-hander—all before he’d thrown a single regular-season pitch. The front office called it a “no brainer.” It almost feels like too much anticipation.

All I can say after today is, given the sharpness of Baz’s stuff, they may be right, but four runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 IP wasn’t the first impression Baz, or any of us, had hoped for. He threw just one bad inning, but seven hits is a lot.

It’s fair to say that in today’s Game 3 series finale against the Twins, Orioles pitching was a shambles. Between the two teams, there were fourteen runs allowed total, 24 hits, and ten ABS challenges (more on those in a sec). But in the end, it was OK, because O’s hitters delivered a special performance.

Down 4-0 early, the O’s rallied, courtesy of a Tyler O’Neill three-run homer in the fourth, and a two-run go-ahead double by Dylan Beavers in the sixth. New-ish reliever Yaramil Hiraldo allowed the Twins to tie it, 5-5, with a first-pitch homer, and Rico García had to clean up a bases-loaded mess, as he did all last season. The O’s raced ahead again with three runs in the seventh, including on an Adley Rutschman pinch-hit RBI double. Again their bullpen tried to give it away, Tyler Wells looking faulty. But Yennier Cano got another clutch, bases-loaded K, and Ryan Helsley was, if not lockdown, good enough. Batters were challenging strike and ball calls all day, and it was a little dizzying, but overall, ABS seems to be a good innovation.

Let’s start at the beginning. This was my first real impression of Shane Baz and here are some thoughts: OK, so the Baz fastball really does live at 96-97 mph. Wow! He hit 99. OK, he’s got a wicked knucklecurve, too. Total “swords” material, as the Pitching Ninja would say. He can also mix in a 91-mph cutter just to confuse things.

This is really pretty stuff. Maybe it’ll produce an ace one day, but Baz’s outing today wasn’t pretty. He dispatched the Twins in a stylish nine-pitch first inning, capped off by a challenged strikeout of Byron Buxton that ABS vindicated! But the second inning was a mess.

Four Twins reached with no outs: Matt Wallner served a 98-mph fastball into center, Josh Bell got hit, catcher Victor Caratini tapped an elevated offspeed pitch to left, and an infield single to second made it 1-0 Twins. Baz battled to strike out Royce Lewis, but the victory was pyrrhic. No. 9 hitter Tristan Gray doubled past a diving Tyler O’Neill, and three runs scored. The relay from center to second to third saw Coby Mayo put the tag on the runner, then fire home too late to stop the fourth run from scoring.

After that, Baz got better. In the fourth, Beavers, in his first-ever game in centerfield, lost a ball in the sun (d’oh—you felt for him), gifting Josh Bell a double. But Coby Mayo fielded a grounder, tagged Bell (or Bell left the basepaths; it wasn’t clear), a run-saving play. In the fifth, Byron Buxton dropped in a blooper to the right-field corner, but Tyler O’Neill fired a bullet to second. Buxton overran the bag, and he was out!

The scoreboard stayed 4-0.

At this point, the Orioles offense was even more disheartening than Baz’s one bad inning, because they were getting handled by Very-Large-But-Otherwise-Not-Terribly-Scary Twins starter Bailey Ober, who has a slowish fastball and a decent changeup/slider combo. I’m not just being mean: from the booth, Ben McDonald said “When I look at his stuff, it doesn’t wow me.”

But Orioles hitters made their adjustments off the soft-tossing giant, and Tyler O’Neill delivered again, this time with the bat. Pete Alonso had led off with a 108-mph single, bringing a needed jolt of life to this lineup, and Basallo followed with a single. Tyler O’Neill went to a 3-1 count and got a hanging sinker: bam. Out it went, crushed to left field. It was, as the booth said, a “muscular” response by O’Neill (that’s a working out joke, by the way).

The two starters were out early, and the ABS challenge system proved critical to both their replacements. Twins youngster Mick Abel coughed up Gunnar Henderson’s first hit of the year but still posted a scoreless fifth, boosted by an ABS-assisted strikeout of Taylor Ward. Taking over for Baz in the top of the sixth, lefty Grant Wolfram struck out Matt Wallner when Basallo challenged the ball four call. Gutsy! It was a strike by a hair, and this conceivably saved a run because the next hitter doubled.

The Orioles put up two more runs in the sixth, as O’Neill walked, Coby Mayo hit a bloop double, and Dylan Beavers delivered his biggest hit of the young season.

The Orioles bullpen did not look nails today, and I have some questions, but that’s for another day. Yaramil Hiraldo allowed a game-tying homer on his very first pitch, then hung several sliders and walked three batters. Rico García, Mop-up Man Extraordinaire, froze Matt Wallner, who pointlessly used his ABS challenge, and it proved important the next inning.

In the seventh, Twins newbie Mick Abel was kind of hung out to dry—I’d have pulled him before 81 pitches, but I’m just a couch potato, after all. After a leadoff single, Gunnar Henderson was alleged to walk. Ball Four was definitely not a ball, but home plate ump Chris Segal blew it, and the Twins were out of challenges! With Ward on second and Gunnar on first, Pete Alonso came through with a single on an outside pitch. (OK, for the record, this guy can really hit.) The O’s weren’t done: a pinch-hitting Adley Rutschman cranked a double to the center-field wall to make it 7-5 good guys. Basallo was intentionally walked (flattering). With no outs, Mr. Canada grounded into a forceout, but Coby Mayo came through with a single. 8-5 Birds.

Unfortunately, Tyler Wells, like Yaramil Hiraldo, was also having a “can’t find the strike zone day,” and he, too, let a run in and loaded the bases. Today, Yennier Cano was up to the task, however, and froze Buxton, complete with a triumphal Cano Strikeout Pose.

Ryan Helsley, pitching on a couple days rest, had himself an 8-6 lead to protect. He did not look particularly sharp, and again, ABS came to the rescue. After a leadoff single, new left fielder Taylor Ward earned his keep with a low ranging grab on a sinking liner. Then, Helsley nearly walked Josh Bell, but new backstop Adley successfully challenged a 3-0 ball call. Come back to the plate, Josh! Then, Helsley dropped in a 3-2 slider on the edge of the strike zone that the ump called ball four. Now Helsley challenged it, and lo and behold, it was a strike by a hair!

Here is Adley’s challenge (Pitch 4) and Helsley’s (Pitch 6). Clearly, ABS is already making a huge difference.

That was a crazy one, folks! It was also a series win, and a great day for the bats.

So, who is your vote for Most Birdland Player of Sunday’s outing? Mr. Canada himself, Tyler O’Neill and his three-run jack? Pete Alonso, who kickstarted the offense and had two singles and a walk? Dylan Beavers, coming through with a go-ahead, two-out double? Rico García, who pulled another Houdini with the game tied and the bases loaded in the seventh?

Make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Want to get more Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google account here.

The first edition of Sunday Night Baseball in 2026 pits a pair of uneven starters against one another as the Seattle Seahawks host the Cleveland Guardians.

My Guardians vs. Mariners predictions expect the offenses to make life miserable for both starters in a high-scoring final.

Check out our full MLB picks for Sunday, March 29, including Sunday Night Baseball props from analyst J.D. Yonke.

Guardians vs Mariners predictions

Guardians vs Mariners best bet: Over 7.5 (-122)

This total does not account for what these two starters are.

Cleveland Guardians hurler Slade Cecconi posted a 4.99 xERA last season with a 49% hard-hit rate that was among the worst in the sport.

Meanwhile, Seattle Mariners starter Emerson Hancock is trying to outperform his underwhelming metrics entering his third season. The righty posted a 4.90 ERA last season, paired with a 5.51 expected ERA. The season before followed a similar pattern, with a 4.75 ERA and a 5.92 expected ERA.

The ball will be in play early and often, and the quality of contact should be high.

COVERS INTEL: Cecconi’s 12% barrel rate and 49% hard-hit rate both ranked in MLB’s bottom 10% among qualified 2025 starters.

Guardians vs Mariners same-game parlay (SGP)

The -144 price point for Seattle is about right with my -146 projection.

I’m genuinely more confident in the Mariners' bats to exploit a pitcher with a serious barrel rate and hard-hit problem. Cal Raleigh looms large, but others like Dominic Canzone, Luke Raley, and Randy Arozarena posted hard-hit rates above 40% last season.

Guardians vs Mariners SGP

• Over 7.5
• Mariners moneyline

Guardians vs Mariners home run pick: Dominic Canzone (+430)

Canzone opened the year with two homers and has posted a Top-3 exit velocity among all Guardians and Mariners hitters in this series. He projects favorably against Cecconi’s fastball-slider combo, particularly the slider, which is a pitch the righty leans on heavily. Canzone posted the highest hard-hit rate among Seattle hitters against that pitch last season.

Guardians vs Mariners odds

• Moneyline: Cleveland +122 | Seattle -144
• Run line: Cleveland +1.5 (-176) | Seattle -1.5 (+146)
• Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-118) | Under 7.5 (-104)

Guardians vs Mariners trend

The Seattle Mariners have hit the Game Total Over in 90 of their last 160 games (+17.65 Units / 10% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Guardians vs. Mariners.

How to watch Guardians vs Mariners and game info

Guardians vs Mariners latest injuries

Guardians vs Mariners weather

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

There are some positives that the St. Louis Cardinals can take away from Sunday’s 11-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, but Dustin May’s start is not one of them as he was hammered through 4 innings.

Dustin May’s unfortunate outing started to go south in the 2nd inning when the Tampa Bay Rays strung together a single by Simpson, a double by Deluca giving the Rays their first run who then advanced to 3rd on a sac fly by Palacios. Deluca scored on a wild pitch from May giving the Rays a 2-0 lead. Williams hit a ground ball up the middle, but ended up with a hustle double. Fedducia singled on a ball that popped out of Burleson’s glove followed by a Diaz single putting the Rays up 3-0 early.

The Cardinals would get on the board in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Jordan Walker ripped a double to left. He would later score when a Victor Scott II infield single was mishandled by Palacios.

Tampa Bay added to their lead in the 4th inning when Fedducia walked and scored after Diaz doubled. Aranda then doubled to right field scoring Diaz who would also score on a double by Aranda. The double parade continued with Mullins which scored Aranda giving the Rays a 6-1 lead.

The Cardinals would show big signs of life in the bottom of the 4th inning when Masyn Winn singled, Thomas Saggese walked and then Jordan Walker lit up an off-speed pitch on the outside part of the plate and deposited it into the left field stands.

The St. Louis bullpen did a solid job for a couple innings when Justin Bruihl relieved Dustin May in the 5th and 6th innings and held the Rays scoreless. George Soriano kept the Rays off the board in the 7th inning, but Matt Pushard’s major league debut in the 8th inning was not a successful one as Tampa Bay would add 3 more runs in that frame giving them a 9-4 lead.

The 2026 Cardinals continue to prove that they have no quit in them as Nolan Gorman slammed a home run into the right field stands in the bottom of the 8th.

Jordan Walker continued to show a much-improved approach as he hit a laser shot single to right field following the Gorman home run. He was followed by Pedro Pagés who also homered making it a 2-run lead at the time.

Tampa Bay added more runs in the top of the 9th inning thanks to a sacrifice bunt given up by Chris Roycroft making the score 10-7 who was also victimized by another dribbler in front of the mound which gave the Rays a 11-7 lead which is how the game would end.

There are a lot of positives even in a Sunday defeat. JJ Wetherholt got another hit as he’s opened the season with a .308 average. Jordan Walker looks like a changed man as he went 3 for 4. Nolan Gorman came off the bench and homered in one of his at-bats. Justin Bruihl and George Soriano did a great job out of the bullpen giving the Cardinals at least a chance to come back.

The St. Louis Cardinals will be back in action Monday night as the New York Mets come to town. Kyle Leahy is scheduled to make his first start of the year for the Cardinals.

The Iowa Cubs were caught hibernating by the Columbus Clippers (Guardians), 7-5.

It was a good start for Jaxon Wiggins, who went four innings and allowed just one run on two hits. Wiggins struck out six and walked two.

Here’s Wiggins getting a strikeout.

Meanwhile, the I-Cubs took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when right fielder Justin Dean doubled to lead off the inning and then second baseman James Triantos beat out an infield single to score Dean with two outs.

The I-Cubs made it 4-0 in the bottom of the second with this three-run blast from third baseman Pedro Ramirez.

First baseman BJ Murray Jr. made it 5-1 in the bottom of the third with this solo home run.

But then the I-Cubs bats went silent. Gavin Hollowell threw two great innings of relief, allowing no runs and no hits. He walked one and struck out three. But Tyler Santana was called upon to pitch the eighth and ninth innings. He allowed one inherited run and one more of his own to score in the eighth and then allowed a solo home run to lead off the ninth and a three-run home run to Nolan Jones that gave Columbus the lead for good.

The final line on Santana was five runs on three hits and four walks over two innings. He struck out two.

Iowa did bring the go-ahead run to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but DH Jonathon Long hit the first pitch to the shortstop for an easy fielder’s choice that ended the game.

Pedro Ramirez was 1 for 2 with the home run and two walks. He also stole a base.

BJ Murray Jr. was 1 for 4 with the home run.

Justin Dean went 1 for 3 with the double and two walks.

Having had a while to process last night’s 6-5 loss against the Guardians, I have determined that as far as losses go, I’m pretty okay with this one. Yes, there were incredibly frustrating things: the bullpen coughing up a key run after some questionable decisions, the utter lack of hitting with runners in scoring position, the double-digit strikeouts. But there were enough positives to take away to leave me about as encouraged as one can be about a loss.

One: Bryan Woo looked unhittable for five innings

Woo’s postgame interview was agonizing as he shouldered the blame for the loss after giving up [checks notes] two runs over six innings. Yes, the command faltered in the sixth, but Woo’s performance up to that point was dominant. The Guardians came in with a plan to be aggressive against him and Woo pounded the zone anyway, forcing the Guardians into quick, weak-contact outs. He also racked up nine strikeouts, 15 whiffs, and hit a career milestone of four hundred strikeouts en route to re-establishing himself as the ace of the rotation.

Two: Randy keeps getting on base

Randy Arozarena’s ice-cold challenge in the second inning that resulted in a walk was one of my favorite moments from yesterday’s game. Randy will get his hacks in, make no mistake about it, but he is running an extremely hilarious (to me) 7.7% strikeout rate vs. a 31% BB rate over these first three games.

Three: Cole Wilcox makes a strong Mariners debut

Wilcox, who’s up in place of the injured Carlos Vargas, showed why he was a spring training standout with an efficient 1-2-3 inning. The issue for Wilcox is throwing strikes, and he did that last night against the bottom of the Guardians’ order, including a fairly devastating three-pitch sequence to CJ Kayfus that ended with Kayfus chasing after 96 on the top rail. You can read more about Wilcox here.

Four: Cole Young continues to be on time for the fastball

Young didn’t have a great day at the plate but he came up huge in the ninth, shooting a 97.5 mph fastball oppo down the left-field line for a leadoff double and eventually scoring the tying run. Young continues to handily beat his preseason projections into the ground and while pitches will eventually stop throwing him fastballs on the plate, Young also did a good job in this at-bat of laying off a couple of tough splitters.

Five: Julioooooooooo

This was the feel-good moment of the night for me. It’s been a scuffle for Julio over these first three games but this game-tying single where he just used his strength to muscle the ball into right-center was cathartic. It’s encouraging to see Julio not getting too big with his swing and doing what the moment calls for, tying it up and passing the baton.

“What we saw from Julio throughout the spring was using the whole field, and that was a perfect example there,” said Dan Wilson. “Not trying to do too much, especially with two strikes, just trying to get something in play there, and he did get a pitch he could handle and found a hole over there on the right side and gave us the tie at the time. Outstanding at-bat for him.”

Six: That Chase DeLauter homer was an anomaly

96.6 up and away? On a cold March night in Seattle? xBA of .490, 99 mph off the bat and 365 feet? Home run at 20 of 30 parks? Get all the way out of here.

Seven: Healthy Luke Raley is a menace to opposing teams

[Crocodile Dundee voice] That’s not a home run, that’s a home run. Raley had one home run over 400 feet last year after hitting 11 in 2024, including a career-long 459-footer, and 12 in 2023 with Tampa Bay. He’s already notched one such blast three games into the 2026 season with this 411-footer, scorched off the bat at 108.9 mph.

Eight: Return of the comeback kids

Maybe the most encouraging thing from last night’s loss: the comeback the team mounted in the last few innings, even if it fell short. Cole Young said that J.P. Crawford took him aside between innings to encourage him and help coach him up with a scouting report on the pitcher, right before his leadoff double. Young also said Josh Naylor was feeding positive energy to the dugout, telling everyone the Mariners were going to come back and win that game. It didn’t happen last night, but the pieces are in place.

“That’s what this team does,” said Wilson. “We have seen that time and time again, and to feel that energy in here, to feel that fight in here again, that’s a really good sign as we get started.”