Cam Schlittler and Jacob deGrom went blow for blow, but the Yankees came out on top in their 3-2 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night.

With the win, the Yankees (20-10) stay 1.5 games ahead of the Rays for first place in the AL East. 

Here are the takeaways...

-Going up against deGrom, the Yankees used some two-out magic in the first. Aaron Judge singled up the middle and Cody Bellinger turned on a pitch and hit a double off the top of the wall -- narrowly missing a two-run shot -- to score Judge from first. Jazz Chisholm Jr. followed with a liner that looked destined to split the outfielders, but Evan Carter caught it on the run to end the inning.

-On the other end, the Yankees defense helped out Schlittler. Bellinger ran down a liner moving away from him in left and then Trent Grisham made a diving catch to set the first two batters down. 

-After that eventful first inning, both starters would settle in, getting through five innings with just one run allowed between them. However, Schlittler would get into trouble in the sixth. 

Brandon Nimmo led off with a single, his second of the game. Schlittler would walk the next batter for Seager. Schlittler would get Seager to strike out swinging on three pitches. He'd get the next two batters to pop out to get out of the inning. 

Schlittler pitched six scoreless innings (92 pitches/64 strikes), allowing three hits and two walks while striking out eight. He lowered his ERA to 1.51. 

DeGrom was just as nasty against the Yankees. The two-time Cy Young winner allowed just one run in his six innings (93 pitches/56 strikes) on three hits and striking out five.

-With Tuesday's starters out, it was an adventure for both bullpens. Austin Wells launched his third homer of the season in the seventh to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead. While the Yankees relievers had to work out of trouble in the seventh and eighth innings. Brent Headrick worked around the two batters getting on base to escape the seventh, while Fernando Cruz allowed the first two hitters in the eighth to reach. A sac bunt attempt by Joc Pederson was perfectly placed, but Cruz slid to get the ball and threw to Ryan McMahon at third while falling to get the force. He struck out Jake Burger and Ezequiel Duran to escape the inning. 

With a three-run lead, David Bednar came in for the save. Andrew McCutchen reached on an error by McMahon with one out and then Danny Jansen lined a triple to push across the Rangers' first run. On the play, Grisham tried to get the ball but was out of reach and he tripped in the warning track. The veteran outfielder stayed on the ground for a bit, but stayed in the game. Bednar hits Nimmo to bring up the winning run in Josh Jung. Jung hits a single to make the score 3-2 before getting Corey Seager to ground into a game-ending doubleplay. 

-Judge would launch his 12th home run of the season to lead off the ninth, a 424-foot bomb to put the Yankees up 3-0. He's now tied for the AL lead.

McMahon started at third and finished 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. His five-game hitting streak was snapped. 

Jasson Dominguez went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. In his first two games this season, the young outfielder -- who started at DH -- is now 1-for-8 with two strikeouts.

Game MVP: Cam Schlittler

Schlittler was dominant but also showed his resolve, getting out of jams when needed.

Highlights

Cody Bellinger gets the Yanks on the board first with an RBI double! pic.twitter.com/DqJB6S8wnK

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2026

What a grab from Cody Bellinger! pic.twitter.com/6oKnk3VaWU

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2026

Fernando Cruz works around trouble with back-to-back strikeouts to end the 8th! pic.twitter.com/ZflANdy3F5

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2026

SEE YA! 👋

Second deck homer for Aaron Judge puts the Yankees up 3-0! pic.twitter.com/wBEcIMUa2Z

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 29, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Rangers conclude their three-game set with an afternoon game on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 2:35 p.m.

Elmer Rodriguez will make his major league debut against Nathan Eovaldi (2-4, 5.79 ERA). 

In a pitching duel between Joe Ryan and Logan Gilbert it was the Twins who were the first to break through. In the 5th, Byron Buxton hit a misplaced Gilbert fastball out of the park to left for his 7th home run of the year. It was a good result, but felt somewhat lacking as, in the 4th, they had stranded the bases loaded with Tristan Gray and Royce Lewis unable to get a hit.

That lack of run support hurt, as in the 6th Joe Ryan allowed a 2-out double to Julio Rodriguez, then Josh Naylor singled to left, tying the game. In the 7th, a lead off double by Randy Arozarena spelled the end of Ryan’s night, with Kody Funderburk entering. Kody got the next two Mariners out, but Cole Young slapped a single to left to give them a 2-1 lead.

The Twins batters were unable to get anything done against Eduard Bazardo in the 6th, and Gabe Speier in the 7th. The Twins bullpen was not so lucky in the 8th. Funderburk walked J.P. Crawford, then Cole Sands entered and gave up a double to Rodriguez, followed by a 3-run homer by Josh Naylor to break the game open, 5-1.

In the 9th, Rodriguez would double in 2 more Mariners to push this once close game to 7-1. That’s your final score.

I also wanted to mention that Randy Arozarena went 2-3 with a double tonight, continuing his dominance against Twins pitchers, as he had an OPS of 1.025 against them entering the game today.

Studs:

Byron Buxton: 2-5, HR, SB

Joe Ryan: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K

Duds:

Cole Sands: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, K, HR

Luis Garcia: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 ER

The team with runners in scoring position: 0-10

Mariners 7, Twins 1

Good: Josh Naylor, .25 WPA

Bad: Cal Raleigh, -.16 WPA

Game thread comment of the day

Blake Snell had his way with Class-A hitters in his second minor league rehab start on Tuesday night. The Dodgers left-hander struck out six in three scoreless innings for Ontario against the Lake Elsinore Storm, a San Diego Padres affiliate.

Snell struck out all three batters he faced in the first inning, then allowed a leadoff double in the second but struck out the next three batters to escape that frame unscathed. He needed only five pitches to complete a perfect third inning with a flyout and two groundouts.

In all, Snell threw 39 pitches on Tuesday, 29 for strikes. He induced 11 swinging strikes, and retired nine of his 10 batters faced.

This was the second rehab start with Ontario for Snell, who started the season on the injured list with shoulder fatigue. Last Wednesday with the Tower Buzzers in San Jose, Snell pitched one-plus inning and threw 32 pitches, and allowed two runs, one earned, with one walk and no strikeouts.

“The first two starts are like — for me, I’m very patient. I just want to see how I feel, how I respond, what’s working, what’s not working. If offspeed is really good, if the fastball is really good, I want to learn how they’re playing,” Snell told reporters last week in San Francisco after his first rehab start. “After those first two starts, that’s when you get more aggressive, like okay now we need to make it happen.”

The Atlanta Braves took on the Detroit Tigers in a clash of first place teams, both with some of the best rotation outputs in MLB. The Braves are red hot having won twenty games before May for the first time in franchise history, and going 20-9 for only the ninth time in franchise history. This game had the makings of a low scoring affair if Martín Pérez was able to keep up his surprising start. As a side note, this series will be the only time these two teams meet in the regular season.

Martín Pérez has kept runs off the board, but his underlying metrics show he has been lucky. He got the job done again tonight though. Casey Mize, the Tigers’ SP for the night, has been stellar so far this season. However, he has never beaten Atlanta and holds a career 4.66 ERA against them.

Martín Pérez sat down the the first three hitters he faced with relative ease, and this is important because Gleyber Torres has three HRs against him in his twenty-two at-bats against Pérez. Ronald Acuña may finally be heating up as he smoked a ball for a double to lead off the the bottom of the first inning. It looked like the Braves would start their scoring then with Baldwin moving the runner to third with a groundout and then Matt Olson walking. However, Mize was able to Albies to strike out and Harris to ground out.

Pérez made it interesting in the second, but just like the rest of the year he was fortunate in the stranding runners on base department. He produced a groundout, but then gave up a walk on an ABS challenged pitch. After a Greene groundout, he gave up another walk. Fortunately, he calmed down and got the strike out to end the top of the second.

The Braves could not get anything going in the second, and to add salt to the wound Dominic Smith lost a challenge on a strikeout. Pérez settled down for the most part in the third by only giving up one baserunner, but it was yet another walk. The Braves finally broke through in the third inning. Yastrzemski decided it was time to get out of his slump and hit a double. Not to be outdone, Acuña followed that up with his second double of the night to plate the first run of the game.

Drake Baldwin grounded out to the pitcher, and unfortunately Mize then left the game due to groin tightness.

On the same play, it moved Acuña to third and Matt Olson cashed in by hitting a sacrifice fly to make the score 2-0. Albies grounded out, but the Braves had done what they needed to. In the fourth inning, Pérez finally gave up his first hit when Dingler hit a single. By this time it seemed like it was not possible that it was the first hit because of the amount of baserunners, but Pérez has been really good at keeping his composure this season to stay calm and strand runners. Dingler’s single was the only base runner of the inning for the Tigers.

The good news for Austin Riley in the fourth inning is he finally got on base. The bad news is that it was due to a throwing error from a pitcher who would not have even been in the game if it were not for an injury. Kyle Farmer finally saw some playing time replacing Dominic Smith at DH due the pitching matchup, but he unfortunately struck out. The Braves were not able to capitalize on the error and Riley was the only baserunner of the inning.

Pérez stayed in the pitch the fifth inning and it was the right move, technically, but it was not without its drama. Lee doubled to start the inning, but Pérez got Báez to groundout. He then got a strikeout, but then it got scary for a second when Torres walked and then after a mound visit Kevin McGonigle looked to have hit a HR, but Acuña does what he does best and jumped at the wall to make the play to end the top of the fifth. The Braves were shut down in the fifth, but thanks to Acuña, they maintained their lead.

In the sixth inning Didier Fuentes made his first appearance since being called up. This goes to show he likely will remain in the reliever role for now. Pérez ended his night with 5.0 IP with two hits, zero runs, and five strikeouts, lowering his season ERA to 2.22. Fuentes stayed in the game for 2.0 innings and only allowed one baserunner via a walk. He also picked up a strikeout along the way. The Braves again had a blank on offense in the bottom of the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh Riley led off with a strikeout which was confirmed via ABS and Farmer stuck out again as well. However, the back end of the lineup came through as Dubón had a double, making it four total for the Braves thus far in the game and then Yastrzemsi knocked him in with a single to make the score 3-0.

Moving onto the eighth inning and we see that Tyler Kinley is human after all when he gave up a single and a double. But, he did not give up a run and had assistance from ABS with a strikeout when Greene challenged and failed on an excellent pitch on the lower corner.

In the bottom of the eighth Baldwin continued to struggle with a pop out but Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies made up for it when Olson hit a double and then Ozzie Albies smacked a HR to make the score 5-0. Shocker alert, it was against a lefty.

It looked like more damage may be done with a single from Harris and Farmer but no more runs were scored. With the Braves bullpen, confidence was high.

With a five run cushion, Aaron Bummer came in to pinch. Fortunately the five run cushion existed because Bummer did not have his best night. He gave up a two-run HR, but was able to get three outs to end it.

It is hard to say if the Braves would win this game if it was simulated multiple times because of the Mize injury and Pérez walking as many hitters as he did, but the Braves were having no issues hitting doubles like it was batting practice and score enough runs to get the job done.

The first team to twenty-one wins will have a tougher test tomorrow as they face two-time reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal tomorrow at the same time and the same place.

The Cubs claimed left-handed reliever Doug Nikhazy off of waivers and assigned him to Triple-A Iowa. Infielder Ben Cowles was designated for assignment.

Left-hander Jackson Brockett was promoted from Low-A Myrtle Beach to High-A South Bend.

Shortstop Yahil Melendez was promoted to Myrtle Beach from Mesa.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs were declared heretics by the St. Paul Saints (Twins), 9-5.

Jordan Wicks made a rehab start today and he was greeted with a leadoff home run and things didn’t get much better from there. The first four batters reached and then after a ground out to first, Wicks gave up a three-run home run. Overall, he gave up five runs in the first inning and one more solo home run in the second.

The final line on Wicks was six runs on seven hits, including three home runs, over two innings. Wicks walked one and struck out no one. I suppose in his defense, the wind was howling out to dead center. In fact, Iowa allowed six home runs total and hit four themselves.

Ethan Roberts pitched the fifth inning on a rehab assignment and gave up a home run to the first batter of the inning. But then he settled down and struck out the next three batters to end his day.

Minnesota native center fielder Brett Bateman led off the top of the third inning in front of his family and connected for his first home run of the year. Bateman was 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base.

Third baseman BJ Murray singled after Bateman’s home run and then second baseman James Triantos clobbered a two-run home run. It was Triantos’ fourth on the year. Triantos went 1 for 3 with a walk and Murray was 1 for 4.

In the sixth inning, left fielder Kevin Alcántara crushed his ninth home run of the year with the bases empty. Alcántara was 1 for 4.

Finally, Hayden Cantrelle took over for Ben Cowles at shortstop when Cowles was designated for assignment mid-game. Cantrelle hit a solo home run in his only time at bat in the top of the ninth. It was Cantrelle’s second this season.

Iowa had five hits today. Four of them were home runs.

Bateman’s home run.

Triantos went to the opposite field and just barely got over the wall.

No doubt on the Jaguar.

Cantrelle’s home run.

Knoxville Smokies

Postponed for inclement weather. A makeup date has not been announced.

South Bend Cubs

The South Bend Cubs boiled the Ft. Wayne TinCaps (Padres), 6-4.

Kenton Egbert started and gave South Bend three scoreless innings, permitting three hits. Egbert struck out one and walked no one, so he kept the ball in play.

Brayden Spears took over for Egbert in the fourth inning and got the win. Spears allowed a solo home run to the second batter he faced, but that was the only hit and the only run he gave up over three innings. Spears walked one and struck out one.

Jackson Kirkpatrick had an ugly save in the ninth. First, he loaded the bases with no outs on two hit batsmen and a walk. After getting a strikeout, he walked another batter to force in a run. But with the tying run on second and just one out, Kirkpatrick got a second strikeout and a grounder to second base to end the game.

DH Cameron Sisneros hit his third home run of the year with the bases empty in the fifth inning. Sisneros went 1 for 2 with three walks and two runs scored. One of the three walks was intentional.

First baseman Cole Mathis was 2 for 4 with a double and a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning for the Cubs first run. Mathis also scored once.

Shortstop Miguel Olivo was 3 for 4 with an RBI double.

Some great defense for Matt Halbach at third base. He was 1 for 5.

The Sisneros home run.

Olivio’s RBI double.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

The Myrtle Beach Pelicans extinguished the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), 7-6.

Starter Noah Edders went four innings and allowed just two runs, both unearned, on five hits. He struck out two and walked no one.

Daniel Avitia pitched the next three innings and allowed four runs in the seventh inning, coughing up the Birds 6-2 lead. Avitia’s final line was four runs, three earned, on three hits over three innings. Avitia struck out four, walked one and hit two batters.

Eli Jerzembeck was activated off the injured list, pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning and got the win. Jerzembeck allowed no hits, but he did walk three while striking out five.

Shortstop Ty Southisene broke up the 6-6 tie with an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth. Southisene went 1 for 4 with a walk and a stolen base.

First baseman Michael Carico hit a solo home run in the second inning. It was his third of the year. Carico finished the night 1 for 4 with a walk and two runs scored.

Next up, catcher Logan Poteet went back-to-back with Carico to make it 2-0. Poteet was 1 for 3 with two walks.

In the fifth inning, DH Eli Lovich connected with the bases empty for his second home run of the year. Lovich was 2 for 4 with two runs scored.

The back-to-back home runs by Carico and Poteet.

Lovich’s home run.

Southisene’s double.

After a pit-stop on the way down I-75 for three games and some questionable “chili,” the Tigers continued south to visit the red-hot Atlanta ball club for the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday night. The Tigers’ bats ran cold, two key players left the game with injuries, and they dropped the opener to the tune of a 5-2 tally.

Making his sixth start of the season for the Tigers was Casey Mize, and he’s looked good in his last couple of starts before tonight. Arguably, his April 17 outing in Boston was one of the best of his career: 6 2/3 shutout innings, three hits, one walk and seven strikeouts? By the stat of Game Score — a rough index to try and determine how good a start is — that was a 74, the highest of his career, one above a stellar start in 2021 against the Mariners. (There are some names in that box score, eh?)

Facing Mize and the Tigers was lefty Martín Pérez, making his fourth start (against two relief appearances) for Atlanta this year. He spent nine years in the Rangers’ rotation before bouncing around a little: some time with the Twins, another stint in Texas, and the south side of Chicago last year. He didn’t make Atlanta’s big-league roster out of Spring Training, but was quickly recalled from Triple-A and has had some nice appearances so far. He’ll give you some innings, won’t dominate you too often, generally limits home-run power and, while he used to be an extreme ground-ball pitcher early in his career, has become much less so recently.

On the first pitch of the bottom of the first, Ronald Acuña Jr. smacked a double to the wall, but Mize was able to get the next three batters and strand him at third. He then sawed-through the next three batters in the second, including featuring that right-on-right splitter that, earlier in his career, he’d use primarily against lefties alone.

Meanwhile, Pérez was pulling the string with his changeup more than a kid with a new Chatty Cathy doll: he struck out both Spencer Torkelson, Kevin McGonigle and Jahmai Jones (three hitters on heaters lately) with straight change-ups right down the middle. You know what I said about not dominating teams? Well, he had it tonight.

Atlanta got on the board first with a pair of doubles to start the bottom of the third inning, by Mike Yastrzemski and Acuña to put the home team up 1-0, and let the record show that I spelled Yastrzemski right without looking. The next batter, Drake Baldwin, hit a dribbler up the first-base line; Mize fielded the ball and tossed underhand to first for the out, and he came up limping, favouring his right leg, and that was it for Mize; it was later reported that he had some “right groin tightness.”

Brant Hurter, who’s been used as a multi-inning reliever, came on for Mize and gave up a sacrifice-fly liner to score Acuña for a 2-0 lead.

Dillon Dingler managed the first Tiger hit with one out in the fourth, despite getting three on base before that via the base-on-balls. Alas, Dingler was stranded there after Riley Greene flew out and Torkelson struck out.

Hao-Yu Lee started the fifth with a double, and Javier Báez hit a grounder to shortstop. The throw to first was high, and Báez figured he could get underneath a tag by sliding into first base — which is never a good idea, kids — and ended up twisting his right ankle. He had to be taken off the field on a cart, but if you can have a little hope here, he was seen wiggling and moving his ankle around while on the cart.

(I don’t want to have to point this out, but… that belt of Báez looks a little too Zubaz-ish for my liking. IYKYK.)

After Gleyber Torres walked, McGonigle hit a long fly ball to right, but it was caught halfway up the wall for the third out and the threat was extinguished.

Pérez, whose pitch count was pushed up by a few long at-bats, was out after five innings and Didier Fuentes, a young right-hander from Colombia, took over and he had his slider working overtime, scattering a Greene walk harmlessly amid three quick outs. The Tigers struck out less than the Braves in this one, and hit the ball pretty solidly for the most part, but they neglected to hit them where they ain’t.

Burch Smith took over for Hurter to start the sixth, facing the heart of the order. He got Matt Olson to strike out swinging, and after walking Ozzie Albies, he got Michael Harris II to ground into an inning-ending double play. Smith carried on into the seventh, and with two outs he gave up a double to Mauricio Dubón, who scored on a Yastrzemski single just over Torres’ glove to make it 3-0. But then Chris Fetter paid Smith a visit, whispered some sweet nothings into Smith’s ear, and he struck out Acuña on three pitches.

In the top of the eighth McGonigle singled and Dingler doubled, putting runners on second and third with two outs and bringing Greene to the plate as the tying run. Alas, Greene struck out looking on a pitch that barely nicked the corner of the strike zone, and the inning was over.

Tyler Holton relieved Smith in the bottom of the eighth, and the Georgians tacked-on a pair of runs but-quick: with one out Olson doubled and Albies smacked a fat changeup over the fence for a 5-0 lead.

Torkelson came up first in the ninth inning for one last chance to extend his home run-hitting streak, but he grounded out to third; fun while it lasted. After Colt Keith singled, Wenceel Pérez hit his second home run of the year to get the Tigers on the board, but that would be the final scoring action of the game.

Final score: Atlanta 5, Detroit 2

Notes and Numbers

• How about that Spencer Torkelson fellow? Five straight games with a home run last week, and still didn’t win American League Player of the Week. That honour went to the A’s Carlos Cortes who went 13-for-24 with three dingers, which is fine, I guess. That Torkelson: he don’t get no respect, I’ll tell ya.
• After Sunday’s game, the Tigers as a team had the third-highest OPS (and OPS+) in the American League. Detroit’s OPS was .750, with an OPS+ of 106; if you don’t like anything related to OPS, the Tigers were fourth in batting average (.253; league-average is .239, which still boggles my mind).
• First Alex Cora in Boston, then Rob Thomson in Philadelphia: managers are getting fired left, right and centre! Who do you have next on your list?
• On this day in 1900, Dutch astonomer Jan Oort was born. He’s probably most famous for lending his name to the Oort Cloud, the spherical repository of tiny, icy bodies past the Kuiper Belt that most likely is the source of comets. But an argument could be made that his calculations regarding the rotation of the Milky Way, and the conclusion that there must be a lot of unseen (i.e., “dark”) matter kicking around, was the most important in the broader science of cosmology.

With the first month of baseball in the books, there have been plenty of surprises across the league. From surprise contenders to fallen favorites and from managers on the hot seat to unexpected performers, the 2026 season has been full of surprises. While things are certain to shift as the long season drags on, here are some of the surprises as April draws to a close:

Up-and-Comers

• As you’re well aware, it took your Colorado Rockies 68 games to get their 13th win in 2025. They’ve already hit that mark in April at 13-16.
• The Athletics are setting out for a better 2026. Not expected to do much after a 76-86 season, they’re currently holding onto first in the AL West at 15-13.
• The Cincinnati Reds are also exceeding expectations. Thought to finish near the bottom of the NL Central, they’re leading the way right now with an 18-10 record.

Underperformers

• From an American League pennant to fourth in their division, the Toronto Blue Jays are struggling out of the gate, currently at 12-15.
• The Boston Red Sox, a Wild Card team just last season, are among the worst in the league at 11-17 and just fired skipper Alex Cora and several other staff.
• The NL East looked like it would yield a number of contenders. The Braves sit at 20-9, but every other team in the division has a losing record. Among the most disappointing are the Philadelphia Phillies (who were the 2-seed in the NL last postseason but are now a league-worst 9-19) and the New York Mets (projected to contend with a loaded roster but join the Phils at 9-19). This led to another firing today, with Philadelphia moving on from manager Rob Thompson.
• The preseason PECOTA standings thought highly of the Kansas City Royals, projecting them to finish with 84 wins at first in the AL Central. So far, they’re in last at 11-17.

Big Time Players

• The Chicago White Sox needed something positive, and they got it. In his first year in the MLB, Munetaka Murakami is showing off the power that made him a star in Japan. He leads the league in home runs with 12.
• A pair of New York Yankees sluggers are also in the top five for home runs. Aaron Judge (11 HR) makes a familiar appearance on the list, but he’s joined by teammate Ben Rice (10 HR) who is having a breakout season after showing flashes last year.
• Contributing to Cincinnati’s hot start mentioned above is a potential breakout star in first baseman Sal Stewart. He came into the year at 22nd on MLB’s Top 100 Prospects list and has started the season with a bang, leading the league in RBI and is slashing .291/.385/.602.

A lot will change in the remaining games on the path to 162, but what’s caught you by surprise the most in this young season? Whether it’s one of the rising or falling teams above, a player crushing it, or a superstar not living up to expectations, what’s happening that you didn’t expect to see? Let us know below!

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