Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jordan Jarrett-Bryan, Will Unwin and Ewan Murray to discuss the title races in England and Scotland
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On today’s podcast: Manchester City did what they had to do, beating Crystal Palace, and are now two points behind Arsenal with two games to play. Palace started brightly, but a couple of glorious assists, one from Phil Foden and one from Rayan Cherki helped Pep Guardiola and co to keep the pressure on.
The real drama, though, was in Scotland. Celtic won and scored a controversial penalty at the death at Motherwell as the title goes down to a final day showdown against Hearts, who beat Falkirk.
Plus, spygate, an FA Cup final preview and your questions answered.
Chapters:
00:00 - Coming up ...
00:44 - City keep up the chase
14:50 - Scotland and the worst VAR call of all?
29:35 - Southampton and spygate
41:12 - FA Cup preview
44:17 - Prem preview
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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MAY 13: Michael King #34 of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at American Family Field on May 13, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It was a pitcher’s duel until the end. In what has become a regular occurrence for the San Diego Padres, they won it on Gavin Sheets’ two-out, three-run homer. It was a great way to make up for the fact that the Friars hadn’t done a thing to back up starter Michael King’s gem.
The San Diego pitching staff only gave up one run (mostly due to some batted-ball luck) while Milwaukee Brewers starter Jacob Misiorowski went seven scoreless innings. He came out to pitch the eighth but exited because of an apparent injury sustained while warming up.
It was a win the Padres needed — which seems to be an oft-used saying lately — and it was one they got. They forced the rubber match and could take the series this afternoon if Griffin Canning can rebound from his last start.
Taking the mound
Kyle Harrison (MIL) v. Griffin Canning (SD)
Harrison has had a great start to the season, pitching to a 2.41 ERA across 33 2/3 innings. The young lefty has impressed after being traded from the Boston Red Sox for Caleb Durbin. He’s racked up 41 strikeouts in that time but has a high 1.22 WHIP.
The southpaw had two of his rougher outings lately against the Washington Nationals and the New York Yankees, giving up one run and two runs respectively. Those were still great outings, but Harrison showed some issues with command in his most recent start, walking four Yankees batters across as many innings.
Canning’s last start was tough. He surrendered six runs to the St. Louis Cardinals in 4 1/3 innings on May 8. But that was all due to a tough-luck fifth inning that forced Canning out of the game. But he had a great debut, pitching five innings of one-run ball.
That recent outing is hurting his stats a bit, raising his ERA to 6.75 and his WHIP to 1.61 across 9 1/3 innings. If he can rebound against Milwaukee today, it would be a move in the right direction for Canning’s San Diego tenure.
Batter up!
Skipper Craig Stammen has spent this series in Milwaukee prioritizing offense in his lineup. He’s started Nick Castellanos in right field, meaning Fernando Tatis Jr. plays second base. Miguel Andujar and Gavin Sheets have been in the lineup consistently as well. That is likely to continue.
Jackson Merrill, CF
Fernando Tatis Jr., 2B
Manny Machado, 3B
Miguel Andujar, DH
Gavin Sheets, 1B
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Ramón Laureano, LF
Nick Castellanos, RF
Freddy Fermin, C
Bogaerts has been solid lately, and owns a .286 career average against Harrison. The same goes for Tatis whose career average is .444 with a 1.333 OPS.
But the real story is Castellanos, who owns a .600 average and 2.000 OPS against the southpaw. His bat could be a major addition to today’s series finale, but he may be out of the lineup instead given how much time he’s spent in right field lately.
Relief corps
Behind King’s great outing, Jeremiah Estrada, Jason Adam and Mason Miller locked down the final three-plus innings. They each pitched scoreless appearances, with Miller pitching his 13th save of the season, regaining the major-league lead.
That saved the majority of the ‘pen for today’s series finale, with Ron Marinaccio, Yuki Matsui, Adrian Morejon, Wandy Peralta and Bradgley Rodriguez available. Morejon and Rodriguez are the highest leverage options of the bunch. Should it be a close game when Canning departs, they’ll be the first two out.
The Cavaliers got a bit of a favorable road whistle.
With three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of a tied game Wednesday in Game 5, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell was blocked by Pistons stud defender Ausar Thompson as he attempted a game-winning shot.
As the ball trickled toward the sideline, Thompson gave chase with roughly one second remaining, only for Jarrett Allen to come crashing in, appearing to step on Thompson’s leg and sending him to the ground while the ball scooted away and the clock expired.
Many believe that a loose-ball foul should have been assessed on Allen, which would have led to free throws for Thompson that could have potentially sealed the game for Detroit.
Instead, the Cavaliers used their fourth-quarter momentum to down Detroit in overtime, 117-113, to take a 3-2 series lead in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Pistons were furious with the no-call.
Jarrett Allen appears to step on Ausar Thompson’s leg during a loose ball.
“[Jarrett Allen] fouled Ausar,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters postgame. “It’s clear. He trips him when he’s going for a loose ball. End of game situation, that’s tough.”
“That’s a foul,” said star Cade Cunningham. “It’s been a foul the whole game — wasn’t a foul at that time.”
“We, the Pistons, we know it was a foul,” fill-in starter Daniss Jenkins added. “But we don’t expect that.”
Tony Brothers viewed the contact as incidental.
Crew chief Tony Brothers defended the decision to not blow the whistle.
“During live play, both players were going for the ball and there was incidental contact with the legs with no player having possession of the ball,” Brothers told a pool reporter.
The NBA league office will review the play and issue a report on whether a foul should have been assessed.
The Cavaliers’ favorable whistle isn’t isolated to this play — they have shot 100 free throws in the last three games — while the Pistons have shot just 54.
World No 1 into Rome semi-finals with stroll past Rublev
Can become first Italian winner of men’s event in 50 years
Jannik Sinner reached the semi-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday after seeing off Andrey Rublev and establishing a new record of consecutive wins in Masters 1000 tournaments.
Another straight-sets victory, this time 6-2, 6-4 over Rublev, moved Sinner up to 32 straight wins in the ATP’s top-ranked events, one more than the previous record established by Novak Djokovic in 2011.
Giannis Antetokounmpo trade rumors are heating up, with the Bucks reportedly open to offers from teams across the NBA.
Let's be real for a second. Nobody saw this coming when Giannis Antetokounmpo was an 18-year-old kid from Athens who could barely speak English and was playing for a Bucks team that won 15 games. The Greek Freak era in Milwaukee was supposed to be the kind of story that only happens in movies — small market, generational talent, one championship, genuine loyalty.
It was a great run, but it's seemingly over. The Milwaukee Bucks are officially open for business. According to Shams Charania, the franchise is fielding trade calls and offers for their two-time MVP heading into the NBA Draft combine, with ownership and the front office expecting a robust market.
The Milwaukee Bucks are open for business on trade calls and offers for two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo entering the NBA combine and over six weeks away from the draft, sources told ESPN.
How did they get here? A combination of bad luck and bad timing. Antetokounmpo is still an elite player — he averaged 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.4 assists while shooting 62.4% from the field this season — but he played only 36 games. That's the problem in a nutshell. The body isn't cooperating the way it used to, and for a franchise betting its entire future on one player staying healthy, that's a terrifying proposition. The Bucks also didn't help themselves in the lottery, holding the 10th overall pick when they hoped to move up significantly to change the calculus of a post-Giannis rebuild.
So now comes the hard part, for both sides. The Celtics, Lakers, Knicks, Timberwolves, and Cavaliers all reportedly pursued Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline, and how those teams finish the playoffs will play a major role in how aggressively they come back this summer. Giannis turns 32 in December and is owed $58.5 million next season with a $62.8 million player option for 2027-28, so whoever lands him isn't just getting a player; they're making a statement about their championship window and writing a very large check to back it up.
For Milwaukee, this is the moment that defines the next decade. Get this trade right, and they have a path back. Get it wrong, and they're the next cautionary tale about what happens when a franchise doesn't maximize its superstar before the window closes.
The Greek Freak era was worth every minute. What comes next is the real question. So, let's cut through the noise. Here are eight teams that could actually make a move and what a deal could look like.
New York Knicks
This one has been brewing for years, and the pressure only grows if New York falls short of a title this postseason. The fit makes sense on paper — Madison Square Garden, the market, the moment. The complication is the return. A package centered around Karl-Anthony Towns and a surplus of future pick swaps has been floated, but Milwaukee needs a foundational young piece, and it's fair to wonder whether Towns — at his age and salary — qualifies as that. The Knicks can get this done. Whether they can get it done at Milwaukee's asking price is another conversation.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics just lost in the first round to the 76ers, and Jaylen Brown's postseason comments opened a door that many people in Boston didn't expect to see opened this soon. Boston could conceivably package Brown, Derrick White, and future picks to make the money work, and that might be the offer Milwaukee has the hardest time turning down. The risk for Boston is real, though. Giannis turns 32 in December and carries a massive contract, and counting on a player that size to maintain peak production deep into his 30s is a gamble that could age poorly in a hurry.
Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers have made a habit of this. Superstar becomes available, Los Angeles finds a way to make the call. The Lakers were among the teams that pursued Antetokounmpo at the trade deadline, so the interest is established and the logic is straightforward, especially if LeBron James and the franchise go their separate ways this offseason and the front office needs a new centerpiece to sell. The sticking point is the return. A package built around Austin Reaves and draft picks is probably the ceiling of what Los Angeles can offer, and Milwaukee is going to want more than that. The Lakers have the brand; whether they have the assets is a different question entirely.
San Antonio Spurs
This is the one that nobody wants to say out loud because it sounds too good to be true. Giannis and Victor Wembanyama in the same frontcourt. The comparison to Tim Duncan and David Robinson has already been made, and it's not a stretch — only this time with modern spacing and athleticism that those teams could never have dreamed of. The vision is right there. The question is whether San Antonio is actually willing to blow up a young core that is ahead of schedule to get it done. Any realistic deal almost certainly involves Stephon Castle or Dylan Harper, and that's a steep price to pay for a player on the wrong side of 31 with a massive contract. But the fit is clean, the timeline is decent, and the ceiling with Wembanyama alongside him is genuinely terrifying. If San Antonio pulls the trigger on this one, the rest of the league should be very, very nervous.
Patrick McDermott / Getty Images
Golden State Warriors
This one is about Stephen Curry's closing chapter, and everybody knows it. Golden State was among the teams linked to Antetokounmpo as a potential suitor, and the vision is obvious — pair the greatest shooter of all time with a two-time MVP for one last run at a title. It's a beautiful story. The problem is Milwaukee isn't in the business of beautiful stories right now. They want youth and picks, and the Warriors are running low on both. Unless Golden State gets creative in ways that aren't currently obvious, this one feels more like a dream scenario than a realistic deal.
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland is still alive in the playoffs, so this one is TBD, but if the Cavaliers go out in an ugly fashion, expect personnel changes to follow. Evan Mobley is the name that matters here. He's exactly the type of young, switchable, two-way big that Milwaukee would want coming back in a deal, and pairing him with a Giannis asking price of picks makes Cleveland one of the more realistic suitors in this field. Keep an eye on how their postseason ends.
Houston Rockets
Houston made a big swing last offseason for Kevin Durant, and it didn't land the way they hoped. If they decide to make another move, they have genuine foundational pieces to offer — Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., and Amen Thompson are all names that should be appealing to a Bucks front office that wants youth coming back. The question is whether Houston wants to blow up a young core that hasn't fully matured yet for a 32-year-old on a massive deal. Bold move. Not impossible.
Minnesota Timberwolves
An Antetokounmpo-Anthony Edwards pairing is the kind of thing that keeps opposing coaches up at night. Minnesota reportedly pursued Giannis at the trade deadline, and if they can't get past the Western Conference semifinals, expect them to come back harder this summer. They have movable contracts in Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, and Rudy Gobert to construct a package, and Edwards as the centerpiece of a new era alongside Giannis is a compelling vision. The fit is there. Now it's just about whether the assets are enough to get Milwaukee to say yes.
Memphis Grizzlies power forward Brandon Clarke was found dead at a residence in the San Fernando Valley on May 11, and authorities are investigating the circumstances of his death.
Clarke was 29 and was in his seventh season in the NBA.
After starring at Gonzaga, Clarke was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the 21st pick in the 2019 Draft. He was traded to Memphis and earned All-Rookie team honors in 2020. Clarke only played two games for Memphis in the 2025-26 season due to various injuries.
He averaged 10.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 309 games in his career.
Here's the latest information about Clarke's passing:
Brandon Clarke cause of death
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office, Clarke's body is ready for release, and the cause of death has been deferred.
Authorities have said that drug paraphernalia was found in the home where Clark was found and that "the incident is being investigated as a possible overdose."
What happened with Brandon Clarke's arrest?
Clarke was arrested on April 1, 2026, after a mile-long chase that reached speeds over 100 miles per hour in Arkansas.
Clarke was found with over 230 grams of kratom, per an arrest affidavit obtained by The Memphis Commercial Appeal. According to the Mayo Clinic, kratom has been deemed unsafe and ineffective as a supplement and a possible way to quit opioids.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said that kratom is a drug of concern, and in Arkansas, it is classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.
May 13, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; San Diego Padres left fielder Gavin Sheets (30) hits a three run home run in the ninth inning as Milwaukee Brewers catcher William Contreras (24) looks on at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images
Gavin Sheets may soon have a warrant issued for his arrest for stealing a game from the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Wednesday. Sheets stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth inning with the San Diego Padres trailing, 1-0. There were two on and two out and Sheets was in an 0-1 hole when Brewers reliever Abner Uribe left an 88-mph slider over the plate. Sheets turned on the pitch and hit it just beyond the outfield wall in right-center field to put the Padres in front, 3-1. Mason Miller was called on in the bottom of the ninth inning and worked around a leadoff single to secure the two-run win for San Diego.
The Padres faced Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski who was dealing for Milwaukee. He completed seven innings without allowing a run. He only allowed four hits and recorded 10 strikeouts over the seven innings. San Diego sent its ace to the mound as well in Michael King. While not as dominant as his Milwaukee counterpart, King delivered another solid start, but he failed to get run support from his offense. If not for the heroic home run by Sheets, King would be looking at another loss with his offense spinning its wheels.
San Diego was outhit by Milwaukee 9-6, but the Padres needed just two of those hits in the ninth inning to get the win. Miguel Andujar hit a two out single into center field and Xander Bogaerts followed with a walk. That set the stage for Sheets to play her0 and as we have seen before this season, Sheets came through when his team needed it most.
The win by the Padres sets up the rubber match with the Brewers on Thursday. The game is set to start at 10:40 a.m.
Padres News:
Padres first-year manager Craig Stammen has shown throughout the season he is not afraid to mix up the lineup or ride the hot hand. Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball believes Stammen is still just experimenting with his lineup on a daily basis.
Ethan Salas continues to perform at a high level in the San Diego minor league system. He homered again and seems to be fully recovered from the back issue that caused him to miss all but 10 games in the 2025 season.
A roster crunch is coming for San Diego and the biggest question around the team so far is who is leaving when Lucas Giolito makes his Padres debut. The expectation is Walker Buehler, German Marquex (IL) or Matt Waldron are released.
The Knicks' offense has always been good. The club has finished in the Top 10 in offensive efficiency in the last four seasons. But, it’s always felt as if the team was leaving money on the table with a predictable offense that leaned far too heavily on isolations and one-on-one play from master shot creators Jalen Brunson and Karl-AnthonyTowns.
Though it largely worked and produced good results like two 50-win seasons and a Conference Finals appearance, New York's offense would often grind to a halt. After the Knicks fell behind 2-1 in the first round against the Atlanta Hawks, a switch flipped. With their backs against the wall, Mike Brown diversified his offense, putting the ball in Towns’ hands and allowing him to make plays for teammates moving off the ball.
The results have been astonishing. New York is 7-0 since the adjustment, blitzing the Hawks and sweeping the Philadelphia 76ers rather easily in four games. At the center of the Knicks’ run is Towns, who has re-invented his game. The 7-footer is averaging 8.3 assists per 36 minutes in the postseason. That’s a stark difference from last year’s playoffs, when the big man posted just 1.4 dimes per 36 minutes through New York’s run to the ECF.
Even in the regular season, Towns was never this consistently pass-happy, averaging 3.5 assists per 36 minutes in 75 games. During this stretch, Towns has been able to give the Knicks offense some verve and a little more diversity.
It has also taken pressure off Brunson. Defenses can’t just scheme to stop the Knicks' point guard in isolation or in the pick-and-roll. They now have to worry about the All-Star point guard coming off a pindown screen, or setting a flex screen for another teammate like he’s done for OG Anunoby countless times in both the Hawks and 76ers series.
That’s all able to happen because of Towns. The All-Star is one of the best shooting big men in NBA history. When he has the ball at the top of the key, his defender has to be alert and can’t sag back into the paint. In many of New York’s lineups, there’s enough perimeter shooting to leave the paint open. It’s giving Towns great opportunities to feed his teammates.
And New York’s offense is thriving. In the last seven games, the Knicks have the top offense of all playoff teams, scoring 130.5 points per 100 possessions according to NBA Stats.
Offensively involved
Towns’ scoring and field goal attempts are down throughout the playoffs. Some of that can be attributed to his recent foul woes in the second round, as well as the fact that he has missed several fourth quarters due to blowouts becoming a regular occurrence in a Knicks game.
But it also doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of the Knicks' offense, because Towns has the ball in his hands on a regular basis. During the regular season, Towns averaged 1.15 front-court touches per minute, per NBA Stats. That number has risen to 1.29 in the playoffs and 1.42 in the seven-game win streak.
Towns' teammates are filling in the gaps. Before he went down with a hamstring injury, Anunoby was having the best moments of his career, averaging 21.4 points. After a slow start to the postseason, Mikal Bridgeshas risen like a phoenix from the ashes. Reserves Miles McBride and Landry Shamet have also shown up with big offensive nights.
Towns has always had potential as a passer. He averaged at least three assists a night the last eight seasons. But it never seemed like a realistic possibility that he could become this kind of playmaker.
Turnovers were one of the central issues with putting the ball in Towns' hands so often. He had a penchant for hooking the arm of his defender on drives, which led to a variety of offensive foul calls earlier this season. He also would wildly barrel into defenders over and over again. But now, Towns has been much more under control, both on drives and on passes.
Quietly, the Knicks' big man has also become much more stout on the defensive end. This well-rounded version of Towns has helped elevate the Knicks to a team with real championship hopes. His play on both ends has given New York a chance in any playoff series.
It's a getaway Thursday for some, but for us here, betting the MLB player prop markets and digging for dingers, and it's moving day as I'm looking to get into the black on the season once again.
Today's the day Fernando Tatis Jr. gets that home run monkey off his back, and the Athletics can turn Michael McGreevy's luck into a dinger today at Sutter Health Park.
And adding Bobby Witt Jr. to any home run card right now just makes sense, as he might be the AL MVP betting favorite by June.
These are my favorite home run props for Thursday, May 14.
UPDATE: Added another HR pick + parlay.
Best MLB home run props today
Player to hit a HR
Odds
Fernando Tatis Jr.
+525
Shea Langeliers
+350
Bobby Witt Jr.
+450
💲Today's HR parlay
+12891
Home run pick: Fernando Tatis Jr (+525)
The drought ends today for Fernando Tatis Jr., who somehow has yet to go deep this year.
He’s been one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball to this point. His xwOBA ranks second on the team despite slugging just .294. He also owns the fastest bat speed on the roster, ranks inside the Top 50 in baseball in that metric, and sits 25th in BlastContact%. Even his attack angle is in a great spot.
It’s a real head-scratcher, and it ends today against lefty Kyle Harrison, whom he’s taken deep over nine career at-bats while hitting .444.
Harrison is a fly-ball pitcher who might be pitching above expectations this season and profiles as a strong target today for a homerless Tatis, who feels more than due with the underlying metrics backing it up.
Time: 1:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Brewers.TV, Padres.TV
Home run pick: Shea Langeliers (+350)
There aren’t a lot of +EV home run props popping up in the projections today, but Shea Langeliers is one of them with a fair price around +300 against Michael McGreevy at the homer-friendly confines of Sutter Health Park, where temperatures are expected around 80 degrees with slight winds blowing out.
THE BAT ranks Langeliers as the 15th-best home run hitter in baseball, and he’s launched four longballs over his last 28 at-bats.
McGreevy owns a .200 BABIP that simply isn’t sustainable, and his xERA sits nearly three full runs higher than his actual ERA.
He’s not a strikeout pitcher and will have to pitch to contact in a difficult environment. It’s a great home run hitter in a great home run park on a slate without many strong options.
Time: 3:05 p.m. ET
Where to watch: NBCSCA, Cardinals.TV
Home run pick: Bobby Witt Jr. (+450)
It’s tough to go wrong with Bobby Witt Jr. on the home run card.
The guy can do it the conventional way or the Little League way, and +450 is a great price on a tough board against lefty Anthony Kay, whom Witt has already seen this season. He’s also hitting lefties at the best rate of his career in 2026.
Witt owns a 191 wRC+ over the last two weeks, along with the seventh-best slugging percentage in baseball. He’s gone deep five times during that stretch, entering today on a two-game home run streak.
He’s one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now and continues to climb the AL MVP odds board. I’d play Witt down to +400 in this matchup.
Time: 7:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Royals.TV, CHSN
Josh Inglis' 2026 Transparency Record
HR picks: 13-71, -3.94 units
Today’s HR parlay
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Bet Now +12891
Shea Langeliers
Bobby Witt Jr.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MAY 13: Danny Jansen #9 of the Texas Rangers celebrates with teammates following a run scoring single against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the ninth inning at Globe Life Field on May 13, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Rangers 6, D-Backs 5
This game shall henceforth be known as The Jake Burger Game.
I really should use “henceforth” more often. That’s a good word.
And Paul Sewald coughing up a lead at the Shed brings back good memories, doesn’t it?
If I were a D-Backs fan, I’d want to vomit.
The Rangers had no business winning that game. Kumar Rocker was not good, the offense was largely stifled, the relievers offered little relief.
When the ninth inning started, my thought was that the Rangers were in position to steal one here. Then, when Jacob Latz blew the save, my thought was that, well, this was a game the Rangers didn’t deserve to win in the first place.
And then…
And then…
The unexpected happened.
Crazy, huh?
How Kumar Rocker managed to get through five innings without allowing any runs is beyond me. He threw 97 pitches, and the D-backs hitters swung and missed at just 5 of them. He couldn’t put batters away, with his 97 pitches spanning just 21 batters. Rocker walked four batters and struck out just three. Somehow, he gave up just three hits.
Arizona starter Ryne Nelson, meanwhile, carved up the Rangers through four, with the only Ranger baserunner coming on a softly hit Evan Carter single.
The Rangers’ fifth inning started with an infield single by Carter. After Ezequiel Duran struck out, Alejandro Osuna was hit by a pitch.
Jake Burger swung at a first pitch fastball from Nelson and lofted the ball the opposite way…and it kept carrying, and carrying, and carrying until it reached the bleachers. Home run, 3-0 lead, Kumar Rocker is in line for the win.
Then the Diamondbacks scored on Cole Winn in the sixth, and got a run home in the seventh, putting them in position to make that ninth inning comeback, while the Rangers had 11 of 12 batters retired after the Burger homer, with the one baserunner being due to a Josh Jung double, because apparently Josh Jung has to have a double every game.
Come the ninth inning, Corey Seager struck out. Josh Jung singled. Evan Carter had a routine F-7.
The Rangers, per B-R, had a 4% chance of winning the game after the Carter fly out. That win probability is based on a generic model, though. It doesn’t take into account the run-dampening qualities of the Shed, or the fact that the Rangers had Duran, Osuna, Burger and Danny Jansen — not exactly a Murderer’s Row (Murderers’ Row?) — due up.
You know what happened. Duran doubled, bringing home Jung. Osuna drew a walk. Burger singled home Duran to tie the game. D-Backs manager Torey Lovullo pulled Paul Sewald for Juan Morillo, who apparently is taking a break from fronting Rage Against The Machine.
Again, think how much this game must have stung for Diamondbacks fans.
Arizona had 19 baserunners — 10 hits, 8 walks, and an E6. They left 13 runners on base. 13!
The Rangers had 8 hits in the game — half of which came in the ninth inning. They had just one walk — the Osuna 9th inning walk. 10 baserunners, half of them coming in the ninth inning, six of them scoring.
Texas was 3 for 4 with runners in scoring position in the game. You aren’t going to give up five runs, have just four at bats with runners in scoring position, and win many games.
It reminds me of the old Buddy Hackett joke:
“Ask me what the secret to comedy is.”
“Okay, what’s the secret to co-”
“TIMING!!!”
Kumar Rocker’s sinker maxed out at 96.5 mph, averaging 94.7 mph. Cole Winn reached 95.7 mph with his fastball. Jalen Beeks’ fastball touched 95.2 mph. Peyton Gray’s one fastball was 92.6 mph. Tyler Alexander’s one sinker was 90.5 mph. Jacob Latz reached 97.3 mph with his fastball. Cal Quantrill’s sinker topped out at 95.7 mph.
Evan Carter had a 103.9 mph ground out. Josh Jung had a 103.0 mph double. Ezequiel Duran had a 102.5 mph double. Joc Pederson had a 102.2 mph line out.
Heading into an off day on a win — and a series win. Feels good.
Shōta Imanaga is pitching like the ace everyone hoped he would be.
Imanaga threw seven outstanding innings (and one batter into the eighth, and that inning led to the Cubs’ undoing), the third time this year he’s thrown seven. But Phil Maton could not hold a 1-1 tie together and the Cubs lost to the Braves for the second straight night, 4-1.
It wasn’t just Maton’s failure, either. The Cubs again didn’t generate much offense, just four hits and a single run. From BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs have made a total of 13 hits in their four straight losses: five, three, one and four.
Since 1901, they have made fewer in four consecutive games only once: 12, April 4-7, 2021: three, five, one and three. They won the first two games of that span, 4-3 over the Pirates and 5-3 over the Brewers, then lost to the Brewers, 4-0 and 4-2, the last game in 10 innings.
This is just the fourth time the Cubs managed only 13 hits in four games. The earlier three all were more than a century ago: Sept. 3-4, 1905 (back-to-back doubleheaders); Sept. 28-Oct. 1, 1912; and Aug. 4-6, 1920 (doubleheader last day). The Cubs won one of the games in 1905 and lost all four in 1912 and 1920.
Let’s go back to the beginning of this frustrating loss.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth, when Drake Baldwin homered off Imanaga. That shouldn’t be a game-killer; a solo home run that early isn’t the worst thing in the world. And in 54.1 innings this season, Imanaga has allowed only five home runs, four of them solo.
The Cubs managed to tie the game up in the top of the fifth. Carson Kelly led off with a single and advanced to second on a ground out. Dansby Swanson walked and the Braves replaced starter JR Ritchie with reliever Tyler Kinley.
That’s where the game stayed through seven innings. Imanaga was allowed to start the eighth because left-handed hitter Michael Harris II was the leadoff hitter. Imanaga ran the count to 3-1 on Harris, who then broke his bat on a weak contact grounder to Nico.
At 2-1, this game might still have been within reach, but Maton then served up a home-run ball to Mauricio Dubón to make it 4-1 and the way the Cubs bats have been going, it might as well have been 40-1. The Cubs did get a leadoff walk from Michael Busch in the ninth off Raisel Iglesias, but Iglesias then got Michael Conforto to hit into a double play, and PCA popped up to end the game.
Holding the Braves, who lead MLB in runs, to five runs Tuesday and four runs Wednesday isn’t too bad. But the Cubs offense has simply gone missing on this road trip and, well, they’re going to have to find it pretty soon. The other teams in the NL Central all lost Wednesday, so the Cubs still lead the division by 2.5 games over the Brewers and Cardinals.
A couple of notes on Imanaga’s outing from John:
Imanaga’s seven innings plus one batter is the longest start by a Cub this season.
He had pitched 7.0 twice; Edward Cabrera and Jameson Taillon, once.
Imanaga gave up no runs and one run in his previous two, with four and three hits. He struck out five and one. In this one: five hits, no walks, six strikeouts.
Imanaga now has six quality starts. Cabrera has four; Taillon, three; and Matthew Boyd, Cade Horton and Colin Rea, one each, for a total 15 in 43 games.
The series finale, on paper, is the toughest pitching matchup. Ben Brown will make his second start of 2026 for the Cubs. Last time out, against the Rangers last Friday, he was really good (four no-hit innings). Hopefully that continues. The Cubs will have to try to get the offense rolling against Chris Sale. Game time is again 6:15 p.m. CT and TV coverage wil be via Marquee Sports Network (and streaming on Peacock, the Braves broadcast, outside the Cubs and Braves market territories).
PHILADELPHIA, PA - OCTOBER 23: Ranger Suarez #55 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates after taking Game 5 and winning the NLCS against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, October 23, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The day is finally upon us. Many resigned themselves to the fact that when Ranger Suárez left in free agency over the winter, there would come a day in which he would be facing the Phillies. Suárez signing with the American League Boston Red Sox lessened that possibility, but the day has come, nevertheless. Suárez has had a good first month in Boston, as he owns a 2-2 record with a 2.77 ERA through seven starts. However, he left his last start on May 3rd after just four innings due to tightness in his right hamstring.
But we’re not here to discuss what Suárez has done with the Red Sox. Instead, let’s take some time to reminisce about Suárez’ Phillies career. Signed out of his native Venezuela when he was just 16-years old, Suárez grew to be a fan favorite in Philadelphia and pitched in almost every kind of role or situation you could imagine. He appeared in 187 games as a Phillie including 119 starts and went 53-37 with a 3.38 ERA. His trademark calm, cool, collected demeanor as well as his impeccable, nonchalant fielding became hallmarks of a very successful Phillies tenure.
However, the postseason is where Suárez really shined. His 1.48 career postseason ERA is seventh best all-time among pitchers with at least 40 innings pitched. That includes two scoreless appearances in the 2022 World Series. But of course, the Phillies wouldn’t have made it to that World Series if it weren’t for Suárez entering in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the NLCS with two on and one out in a one-run game with the Phillies clinging to the lead after Bedlam at the Bank. In true Ranger Suárez fashion, it took him only two pitches to record the final two outs and seal the pennant for Philadelphia.
It’s hard to top that when it comes to memorable moments for Ranger Suárez with the Phillies, but your opinion for your favorite may vary. So, what’s your favorite memory of Ranger Suárez with the Phillies?
ATLANTA, GA - MAY 13: Mauricio Dubón #14 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning during the game against the Chicago Cubs at Truist Park on May 13, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I’m not going to argue one way or another, I’m just throwing the question out there.
The Braves got Mauricio Dubon in a salary dump. The Honduran utility man had a standout defensive year in 2025, accumulating 2.2 fWAR in just under 400 PAs, but that wasn’t enough for the Astros to be interested in retaining him for about $6 million in salary. He’d put up about 1 fWAR in 400 PAs the year before, and about 2 fWAR in 500 PAs in 2023. As he had never hit all that well, it was a defense-and-hope-the-bat-won’t-kill you profile.
Fast forward to, well, now, and Dubon has 1.0 fWAR in 165 PAs. He’s not playing defense at the same breakneck pace as last year, but it’s still good. His 108 wRC+ is a product of substantially outhitting his xwOBA (.328 wOBA, .309 xwOBA), but the xwOBA is his highest in a season since 2020, and decent in and of itself.
The Braves have benefited hugely from his versatility, as he served as the de facto starter at shortstop to help weather Ha-Seong Kim’s injury, only to shift around to the outfield to cover concerns with Michael Harris II’s quad and the seemingly-inevitable Ronald Acuña Jr. lower body injury. More to the point, unlike many “utility guys” (hi, Emilio Bonifacio, my longest-tenured enemy), Dubon has already accrued at least a run above average per Statcast’s measures at both shortstop and left field, and hasn’t been negative anywhere.
The bat continues to be a work in progress, but it really does feel like the emphasis is on the “progress” part of that idiom, after a fairly stagnant time in San Francisco and Houston. He has definitely oriented his approach to try and hit the ball harder, with the biggest change being more selective in terms of the strikes he offers at. It hasn’t been a profound shift as he still isn’t exactly clobbering the ball (.335 xwOBACON is well above his league-worst-ish marks the last two years, but still well below league average), but he’s done a good job shifting the boons available to him from his hand-eye coordination from “will make sure I make contact with everything” to “will make sure I hit everything at a productive angle, even if I don’t hit it all that hard.”
There have also been some interesting changes for him beyond that, as he’s completely remade his stance. He’s now standing further back in the box but also falling over the plate, which is letting him essentially fight the ball off to center and right, especially when he’s pitched outside. But, his stance is also much more open than before, which might help him turn on inside pitches (like he did last night), though I’m honestly not sure the exact mechanics of how an open stance helps when he’s geared a lot of his approach towards poking liners over the infield.
In any case, Dubon has been a huge part of the Braves being where they are right now — he’s filled multiple holes as they’ve arisen and come through quite a lot (11 games with 0.06 WPA or more), despite nothing particularly special in his overall WPA (it’s negative for the season) or clutch score (a very generic 0.20). (He also has 11 games with -0.06 WPA or worse. He’s been in the thick of it all year, but he’s come through as often as he hasn’t, basically.) Alex Anthopoulos has already made public statements about how depth has been huge this year while previously being a thing he ignored as somewhat of a counter-current to his former colleagues with the Dodgers/in the Andrew Friedman management tree.
So, will the Braves extend him? Or, will they let him hit free agency and re-sign him? An injury or performance decline could upend all of this, of course. But, the rest of the roster likely isn’t getting any younger or less injury prone, which means Dubon will have a clear role going forward should the Braves choose to retain him. His offensive track record suggests he won’t be in for a huge payday, but if he continues to polish himself at the plate, that might change.
Right now, I could see the Braves offering him about $15 million to hang around for next year. Dubon might try to angle for a bit more, but his camp might be better served and waiting to see how much of his current 4 fWAR-per-season pace he can sustain. The more he is able to, the larger a chance of a two-year-ish deal at league-average-regular ($20 million annually or so) that gets him to his mid-30s. But, if he really wants to stay and the keep the vibes near-immaculate, then yeah, I can see him signing something short to cover 2027.
As I write this, late at night on an irksomely chilly May 13, in a year where (like every year now) spring seems reluctant to arrive, the Chicago White Sox are a .500 ballclub. The cold, sun-shy temps can make a person think we’re just at the start of a season, where they might be sitting at 3-3 in a still-formless barely-born year, but the calendar gives lie to that.
We’re 42 games in. A bit more than a quarter-way through the 2026 season, and the Sox are officially mediocre. And that’s a cause for minor joy, which might be slightly sardonic but is neither muted nor insincere.
It’s been a long time coming. Last season, the high-point was 2-2. In 2023, they were as good as 3-3 before the wheels came off. In 2024 the White Sox started strong, at 0-0, but quickly went downhill.
In fact, the last time the Sox had a .500 record this late in the season was 2022. If you remember that year, we were perpetually .500. They hovered a game or two on either side of middling for most of the year. In a nice piece of tuneless harmony, they were never more than five games under or over .500, and even the eight-game losing streak that wrecked any hope at returning to the playoffs was balanced by going 5-2 to finish a pointless 81-81.
It is that part — the chance of returning to the playoffs, in a weak AL Central just there for the taking — that made 2022 so brutal, and so emotionally different than this by-standings unremarkable year. Despite getting trounced by Houston in the 2021 playoffs, the defending division champ White Sox were hot preseason picks to win the World Series. Injuries, bad management, regression and terrible roster construction led to a season that never got started, until it came to a thudding finish. It’s weird and unsettling to think how not very long ago there was optimism, before the bottom fell completely out.
It’s also strange to think that there have only been three years completely in the wilderness — and you might even say that we began to leave the wilderness last year. So the years of wandering weren’t that long, it is just that the wilderness was so thorny and snake-filled and parched and really not very pleasant to look at. Not a photogenic wilderness. More of a superfund site than a wilderness, really.
There’s a chance that metaphor got away from me, just like the excitement we have over a .500 club could be seen as our emotions getting away from us. After all, there are a lot of negative signs, including a run differential of -12, which leads to an x-W/L of … 20-22. So only one game. But even that minor blip can be chalked up to an early-season bout of looking really bad in losses and like a normal baseball team in the wins.
And that’s what the Sox are right now: a normal team. Not a good one, but not a bad one. Certainly not a historically bad one, as we’ve been. Not a World Series contender, but in a terrible year for the AL in general and the AL Central in particular, a goofily fringe playoff hopeful.
Being normal when you’ve been intensely abnormal is a good feeling. It’s qualitatively different from being frustrating and mediocre when you expect more. There isn’t the agony of expectation, just the silly joy of thinking that you might, one day, have those agonized expectations again.
If the season ended today, the Sox would be in the playoffs. It doesn’t end today, of course. But at the very least, it feels like something else might just be beginning. And no matter what the temperature is outside, no matter how unnatural our seasons might be, that feeling of a new bloom is proof that you can never hold back spring.
On this day nine years ago, Todd Frazier managed to score from third after tagging up on an infield fly. | (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
1907 The lead-up to the first weekend game of the new season was full of pomp and circumstance, and the White Sox celebrated their World Series win over the crosstown Cubs. But after the parade into the park, as the pennant itself was being raised, the wooden flagpole at South Side Park snapped in half.
The heavy winds that ruined the climax of the pennant ceremony portended trouble for the day’s scheduled game against the Senators, as rains washed the action out after just four Washington batter.
The ill omen did not, in fact, spell a bad season for the White Sox. While the South Siders failed to repeat their AL pennant win, they finished 87-64-6 and led the AL for the majority of the season before falling to third place. At the time of the deluge that wiped out the game after the aborted ceremony, the White Sox were 17-8 and up by three games in the pennant race.
1914 White Sox starter Jim Scott threw a no-hitter, with one problem — the game against Washington remained tied, 0-0, through nine. To start the 10th, future Black Sox ringleader Chick Gandil broke up Scott’s no-hitter with a single, and the game was lost when the next batter, Howie Shanks, tripled Gandil home.
The game marked the first of three nine-inning no-hitters Ray Schalk caught during his 17 seasons with the White Sox.
1940 For the second time, Jimmie Foxx hit a home run over the Comiskey Park roof. It was the fifth roof shot in Comiskey history, all so far coming from opponents, and Foxx became the first player to accomplish the feat twice.
Foxx had two homers in the game, the first being the roof shot, that came in the second inning. The slugger also homered in the top of the 10th inning, the eventual game-winning margin of a 7-6 Boston win. Both home runs came off of Sox starter Johnny Rigney, who went 9 1⁄3 innings and surrendered all seven Bosox runs.
Before home plate was moved up eight feet in the 1980s, only two players every put two homers over the roof: Foxx, and his teammate in this 1940 game, Ted Williams.
1943 Buck Ross threw a one-hitter at the Yankees, giving up a single to Nick Etten with one out in the second inning but shutting New York down from there. The White Sox kept the outcome in some suspense, failing to crack onto the scoreboard until the seventh inning, when Wally Moses and Jimmy Grant tapped out run-scoring singles.
Ross would end up 11-7 in 1943 — his only winning record in 10 MLB seasons. Despite seven complete games and a 3.19 ERA, the righthander would earn just 1.1 WAR in the pitching-rich 1943 season.
1963 White Sox pitcher Ray Herbert fired his fourth consecutive shutout, beating the Tigers, 3-0, at Comiskey Park. Herbert allowed six hits and struck out seven. His shutout streak began on May 1, when he blanked the Orioles. That was followed by shutouts over the Senators and the Yankees. In the shutout stretch, Herbert only allowed 15 hits in 36 innings, with 22 strikeouts.
In the previous season, Ray won 20 games and was the winning pitcher for the American League in the second 1962 All-Star Game, played at Wrigley Field.
1967 White Sox pitching great Gary Peters authored his second career one-hitter, beating the Angels, 3-1, at Comiskey Park. It was the nightcap in a doubleheader sweep. Peters allowed only a second-inning home run to former Sox first baseman Bill “Moose” Skowron (traded to California by the White Sox just eight days earlier), and struck out 10. This was also the final win of a 10-game personal winning streak for Peters.
Petersmade the All-Star team for the second time in his career that season, going 16-11 with a 2.28 ERA over 260 innings pitched.
1977 The White Sox hammered Cleveland, 18-2, in a game that started at 10:30 a.m. in connection with a promotion for the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin sandwich. First baseman Jim Spencer tied the franchise mark with eight RBIs on the day, going 3-for-3 with two home runs, including a grand slam along with a two-run shot and a two-RBI single. Spencer drove in eight runs in a game again later that season, against Minnesota.
Only four other players have driven in eight runs in a game for the White Sox, and if it needs be said, Spencer was the only one to do it twice — and fewer than two months apart, at that!
1998 Greg Norton became one of only 13 players to hit two home runs in the same game off of Randy Johnson. Norton homered in the third and fifth innings of a 5-3 win at Comiskey Park, going 2-for-3 in the game, with three RBIs.
2005 White Sox speedster Scott Podsednik became just one of eight players in White Sox history to swipe four bases in a game, doing so against the Orioles at U.S. Cellular Field. Just a week earlier, he grabbed four bases at Toronto. And in almost one year’s time, on May 1, 2006, Podsednik would accomplish the feat for a third time. Scotty Pods is the only player in franchise history to steal four bases in a game twice, much less three times.
2017 As part of an eight-run eighth inning against the Padres, White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier scored from third on an infield pop-up! Tyler Saladino popped up a bunt attempt, which was caught by San Diego’s Wil Myers near first base. Myers then turned his back and hesitated, and when Frazier saw that, he broke for the plate. The return throw was off-line and high, and Frazier slid in toscore. It delighted the White Sox home crowd, as part of a 9-3 win. Fifteen White Sox players batted in the big inning, racking up four hits, five walks, a hit batsman and an error.
Fernando Tatis Jr.
Shea Langeliers
Bobby Witt Jr.
